


Alien

by Corvus_Rex



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: But first: TORTURE!! YAY!!! :D, I actually hate myself lmfao, It'll be a Klance fic eventually, Keith gets the snot beat out of him tbqh I'm not really even sorry?, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2018-10-12 01:21:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 27,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10478871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvus_Rex/pseuds/Corvus_Rex
Summary: Hot headed Keith is an integral part of Voltron. The red lion was Zarkon's right hand man (get it, cause he's the right arm? *slaps knee*) and he wants him back. A little bit of torture usually helps him get what he wants. Usually.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rest in fucking shit Keith, is literally all I have to say~ Enjoy~ <3

“Did you know you’re an idiot, Lance?” Keith asked, rolling his eyes as the Cuban teen continued to wiggle his eyebrows.   
“Oh, come on man, that was funny!” Lance protested, frowning at his companion. Of course, it was just his luck to get sent on a mission with Keith. Hunk and Pidge had their own mission and Shiro was confined to the castle till his dislocated shoulder healed. So, here he was, stuck with the brooding Paladin. Not even his puns were getting him to loosen up.   
“No, it wasn't, and you really should stop talking.” Keith didn't look up from the plant he was scanning. It was their job to find a certain type of flower, and so far they weren't having very good luck. “The wormhole closes in 35 minutes, and we haven’t found anything, come on.” Lance sighed, following Keith.   
“Allura wasn't even sure this was the right system for that flower, I think we should just head back.” Lance stretched his arms over his head, watching his friend. Ya, Lance definitely considered Keith a friend, despite a lot of things.   
“… You might be right… We’ve looked at every planet here and haven't found anything like she described…” Keith straightened up, huffing in annoyance. Another day wasted. While Zarkon was still out there doing who knows what to try to steal the Lions.   
“Great, let’s go…” Lance’s voice trailed off, and he grabbed Keith’s arm. Keith flinched away from his touch.   
“Wha--?”  
“Something’s watching us. We gotta go and now.” Keith trusted Lance’s gut, something hadn't felt right since they had set foot on this planet. They called their Lions. Blue gracefully scooped Lance up, tucking him inside her jaws so he could get to the controls before jetting into the sky. Red grabbed Keith straight in her mouth, not even bothering with the niceties.   
They hadn’t gotten far when a rock hit Red’s face. Normally, they wouldn’t have looked twice, but the rock stuck to the lion’s nose. Keith was about to mention it when the rock exploded. The force of it knocked Red out of the sky, and the giant lion plummeted towards to surface of the planet.   
“KEITH!!” Lance screeched, wheeling Blue around to fly to the other Paladin’s aid. He didn’t even get close before something blasted into him. Blue flew away, skyward. By the time got the lion righted, Red had crashed. Lance could just make out a ship in the dust from the crash, floating over the lion’s prone form. Lance screamed and Blue launched in, snatching the red lion and clipping the wing of the ship. As soon as the blue lion had a secure grip on the other robot, they were off. Lance’s countdown clock read 40 seconds left till the wormhole closed. He’s make it. Blue wasn’t fast, especially not when burdened by another lion, but she could do.   
“Come on Blue, let's get Red and Keith home safe and sound.” The lion seemed to purr and put on an extra burst of speed. They got into the wormhole as his count down read 3 seconds left. 

Lance’s legs were shaking when he got out of Blue. That was a close call, both he and Keith could have been really screwed. Lance sighed, walking over to the immobile red lion.   
“Keith? Buddy, come out now.” He paused, waiting for a response. “If you’re hurt Allura’s gonna be pissed!” Another awkward silence. “Keith? Dude, don't make me come in there?” Silence. Lance grit his teeth and climbed into the lion’s mouth.  
The door to the control room was open. Okay, that was alarming, but didn’t mean anything for sure… until Lance poked his head in and Keith wasn’t there. A smear of blood ran from the chair to the door. Did Keith fall out? That didn’t seem overly likely… He would have told Lance. Was he… Taken…? That ship had looked pretty sinister, with its black and gold paint job…   
“Oh… No…” Lance realized he’d screwed up pretty bad. And so, he ran through the castle. Allura was going to be so pissed.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith didn’t know what had happened. When he regained consciousness, he had a pounding headache, the lights so bright he couldn’t open his eyes. Everything hurt. After a few seconds, he remembered. His lion had crashed… No, they’d been shot down. By who? Why? He blinked his eyes open, expecting to see the castle, or the inside of Red. Instead, he was greeted by a large, empty, white sterile room. The only thing in it was him. Well, the bed he was strapped down to counted as a thing, he guessed. Wait, why was he strapped down to anything in the first place?! What happened? Where was Lance? Why was he naked?  
“Oh, good morning, sleeping beauty.” Keith froze. The voice was grating, cold and harsh, the words clipped. He didn’t want to see who that voice belonged to. “Not going to ask where you are?” He screwed his eyes shut, trying to feel his connection with Red. “Your companion left. He presumed you had just crashed and took your lion and left. You’re all alone now~” There was a sick humor in that tone.  
“Who the hell are you?!” Keith finally managed to snarl out, straining against the leather cords holding him down.  
“Not someone you wanted to meet.” The voice replied. His blood ran cold. That usually didn't mean anything good. “Is that… Galra I detect…?” The voice was puzzled. Keith didn’t want to know what he was talking about. “Why does your blood taste like Galra blood, boy?” Keith shuddered. His blood? How long had he been out? Was he injured? “ANSWER ME BOY!”  
“Y-yes…” Keith didn’t really know why he actually answered, but there was a disdainful sniff in the farthest corner of the room.  
“Wonderful, this might make this much easier on you~” Keith didn’t like the sound of that. 

The wonderful thing about never ending torture, you lost track of time. At first Keith had been trying to keep track of how long he’d been gone, and then the voice had sent in their goons to do their experiments. They cut him open, they drew blood, they injected him with stuff that burned for hours after. After what he counted as about 48 hours, Keith lost track of it all. They’d inject their serum and leave, his body still tightly tied to the bed. The only time he was allowed up was to use the bathroom. The leather cords would retract from his body and he’d rush to the toilet. Of course, as soon as he was finished, the cords would find him and drag him back to the bed.  
They cut his hair, snipping it shorter to the scalp than Keith was comfortable with. When Lance saw him, he’d definitely mock him. Not that Keith even knew what it looked like… Thoughts of the other Paladin’s helped ease some of his pain, they kept him focused. Keith didn't know what his captor was doing, but if he wanted to break Keith, he was going to have a hell of a tough time.  
The first time he saw the man in charge, Keith decided he would shoot any lizard he ever saw again on sight. The man was well over 7’ tall, covered in tan scales, with long nails extending out from long fingers. The claws were sharp, and he seemed to relish in slicing Keith with them.  
“Little Galra boy~” The lizard man took to calling Keith that. It amused him, to see Keith’s anger at the name trying to burn through the pain. It never worked, the lizard would add more pain as soon as Keith came too close. He introduced himself as Dr. Z. A voice in Keith’s mind (that sounded suspiciously like Lance) mocked that. _Why would anyone give a lizard a Ph.D?_ It drawled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little Galra boy is the worst insult I have ever come up with, this is why I should not write on my iPad at 2 in the morning, I am so sorry. Honestly: I had meant to go so much more in depth with the torture, but I don't feel like rewriting stuff, and the next chapter is more in depth so *shrug emoji*  
> But seriously, can anyone answer Lance's voice's question? Why would anyone give a lizard a Ph.D?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit happens, Keith gets hurt. I'm not sorry.

Keith had long ago given up his fight, and was allowed free roaming around his room. The return of Z was punctuated by a sharp, shrill siren. It didn’t take long for Keith to learn that he needed to lay down on the bed when that sounded. This doctor didn’t mind giving his patients a hearty beating, along with whatever horrors he planned to inflict.   
The siren sounded, and Keith shrank away to his bed, hating himself for every second of it. The leather cords strapped him down, and he whimpered. That meant a bad day of torture. Z stalked in, smiling maniacally.   
“Oh, little Galra boy, you will never believe what I’ve been given permission to do to you!” His tone was filled with glee, and Keith’s heart sank. This was not going to be good. He’d stopped thinking about the other Paladin’s completely, afraid of tainting the only good memories he had. There was nothing left to power him through this. “Don’t you want to ask me?” Z was sadistic, and his forked tongue flicked out, tasting the fear radiating off Keith. The teen knew better than to speak, that would only make everything worse.   
“Hmph, fine~ Our wonderful lord Zarkon has given me permission to amputate~” He laughed, cold and harsh at the look on Keith’s face. Keith tried to fight through the leather binding him.  
“N-No!!” His voice was hoarse, his throats raw and dry. He was given just enough food and water to keep him going, nothing more and nothing less. He had dropped at least 30 pounds by now.   
“Now, now, Little Galra Boy~” that voice dripped with a barely concealed threat. Keith froze, closing his eyes. “If you behave, I’ll only take one leg~” His scaled hand rested on Keith’s left ankle, stroking the tender flesh there. Keith ground his teeth. He obviously had no choice, and Z wasn’t kidding. In fact, he already had everything with him. Keith had missed the table rolling in with the doctor. Z pulled it over, smirking wickedly, as he picked up a small knife. He moved around Keith’s bed, stopping by his thigh.   
Keith barely had a moment to think before the knife pierced his flesh. His scream ripped from him, tearing his throat. The doctor pushed the knife all the way around his leg, just above his left knee, to the bone. He removed the knife, his tongue flicking out. Keith sobbed in pain, his shoulders and right leg straining against the leather.  
But, it wasn’t over yet. The saw started up next, the noise drowning Keith out. Until it touched his leg, ripping through any tendon and muscle and bone left. Keith’s screams could be heard in the front of the ship, by the pilots. The lizard mean seemed to slow down his work, relishing in the screams ripping from his prisoner’s throat. Keith’s eyes were rolled back in his head, and tears streamed freely down his face. His shoulders jerked, fighting against the leather.   
Right before Keith was about to pass out, the doctor finished, and the saw powered down. He was stuck on the edge of consciousness, the pain enough to keep him fixed in the present, but not enough to push him out cold. Keith sucked in air, openly crying now. His hands pressed against his thighs, his nails biting into his flesh. This was hell.   
The doctor pressed bandages against Keith’s thigh, wrapping his stump tightly in gauze. The ceiling spun above his eyes, and he tried to block it out. Pain, he could handle. This? This was so much worse, Keith was at his limit. He didn’t even notice Z wrapping his leg and stashing it on the cart. He ignored the gleeful humming coming from the lizard.   
“Oh, Zarkon will be so thrilled~” The doctor spoke over Keith’s wheezing sobs. He started to turn away, before making a small noise. “Oh, yes, how foolish of me… I almost forgot… Here now, little Galra boy, enjoy your evening~” The lizard injected Keith with the usual serum, lighting his insides on fire. Keith screamed, his throat raw, as the doctor left the room, humming joyously over his prisoner’s screams.


	4. Chapter 4

He wasn’t sure when he’d passed out, just that he had. When Keith came to, there was a crutch beside his bed, and he was free of his leather binds. He limped to the toilet and back to the bed. He couldn't even muster up the energy to do much else. He hurt. His leg, his throat, his head, everything. Keith passed out again. 

The next time he came to, it was cold, and darker than it had ever been. Keith also had a thin blanket draped over his body. He grabbed the thin material gratefully, looking around. Any words of thanks he had died on his lips.  
“Zarkon…” his breath hitched as the word echoed around the room. The Emperor turned towards Keith, a sharp smile on his warped face.  
“Paladin.” He growled out shortly, looking down at the teen, disgust clearly written across his face. Anger overtook everything else, and Keith launched at the Galra, ignoring the protest from the stump of his left leg. Zarkon, of course, easily swatted the thin teen away, crossing the space and planting a foot on Keith’s chest. “How pathetic. Your transformation is nearly complete, and still, that is all you can muster? You are weak Paladin.” Zarkon’s voice ground out, and he pressed down on Keith’s chest. He felt his ribs cracking, dangerously close to breaking. He couldn’t breathe, but still he tried to push Zarkon’s boot off of him, anger boiling through him.  
“You murderous rat!” It came out barely louder than a whisper, hoarse and squeaky. Zarkon stamped his boot down harder and Keith felt a couple ribs break. He froze, trying to draw in breath.  
“A rat, am I?” Zarkon sounded amused, gazing down at the half-galra trapped under his foot. “What does that make you, Paladin? In case you didn’t notice, I caught you.” He laughed, and Keith flinched, squirming away as the Emperor removed his foot from his chest. “Your little friends are trying to plan a rescue. Perhaps I should let them come and give them the same treatment as you?” Keith glared at the Galra, his jaw clenched tight. “No? Then perhaps I should let them come and kill them in front of you. I never did care for the blue lion, or her chosen Paladin.” Keith refused to respond. Zarkon didn’t enjoy prey who didn’t struggle.  
Zarkon watched the teen for a long moment before swinging around, stalking towards the door.  
No sooner was the Emperor out than Dr. Z was back. 

“Oh, now, now little Galra boy, fighting our lord Zarkon isn’t that good of an idea~ Especially when he has… Sponsored you so~” The lizard man’s grotesque mouth split into the widest, most sadistic grin Keith had seen on his face yet. His stomach dropped. Whatever Zarkon wanted done to Keith, it wasn’t going to be good. He barely got a moment to worry before he heard a small whistle, then something stuck into his thigh. Keith glanced down, noticing the dart in his body, and barely had a moment to register it before a black wall of unconsciousness crashed into him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waking up with Zarkon in your prison room would not be fun. I think I would cry tbh. Or attack him. Or do both. Ya, probably both. Poor Keith.


	5. Chapter 5

Keith didn’t normally dream, but I guess when you’ve been stuck in torture for close to three months, things changed. His dreams started in the Garrison, chasing after Shiro. The older teen just kept getting farther and farther ahead, and Keith was slowing down.  
_Wait, Shiro! Hold on!_ He tried to cry out to the older teen, but Shiro couldn’t hear him. He slowed to a walk, trying to catch his breath. His leg started to tingle, a strange sensation that turned into a fire. He stared at his leg in horror as the skin stretch and ripped, a new skin emerging. It was purple and metallic, cold and unyielding. Keith screamed, tripping backwards into a warm body. He spun around, ready to fight.  
To his surprise, it was Lance, smiling and open. He had his hands on his hips.  
_‘Come now Keith, don’t keep me waiting forever~’_ His voice was course and gravely. Keith reared away from the other Paladin, horrified. It was Zarkon’s voice, coming out of Lance’s mouth. Keith held up his hands as Lance stepped forward.  
_Stay back!_  
_‘Oh but you were just calling for the other one~’_ Zarkon’s voice was taunting, and Keith backpedaled as hard as he could.  
_Shut up!_ He screamed, and a black fog pulsed from his outstretched hands, swallowing Lance whole. The scream that tore through the fog was definitely Lance’s. Keith felt like he was going to be sick.  
In fact, he was, all over his feet. The shiny purple leg felt cold against the rest of his body as he collapsed into a heap. Maybe, just maybe, he was dying. It would get him out of this hell. Keith bit his lip, a sob escaping him. The hope burrowed into Keith’s chest, and he sighed. No sooner had that hope lit, then his body felt like it was on fire.  
He was screaming, inside the dream and out. His skin was stretching and ripping, all over his body. It felt like his body was being melted, his head aching and pounding. He heard a faint muttering, and swung in the direction he thought it was.  
Turns out, that wasn’t part of the dream. His fist connected with a very solid wall of flesh, and his knuckles screamed in pain. His hands felt like they were being smashed to bits, rearranged like a puzzle, and then glued together. Keith was no strange to pain, but this? This was so much worse than he could ever have imagined.  
And then, through the pain and the fire, he felt a blissfully cool pinch on his arm, and the cold raced through his veins. The cold was accompanied by a sinking darkness, and Keith gladly embraced it.  
If this was death, it was about bloody time.


	6. Chapter 6

Waking felt like he was being pulled through a tub of molasses. It was hard, and he desperately wanted to stay asleep, but still, something tugged him through that tub. When he surfaced, Keith blinked into a blinding blue light. It looked… Like the sky? He looked around. He was still stuck in that room, but the ceiling opened up to a sky. Sun light streamed in, burning against his face. Keith flinched. He didn’t want this.   
“Little Galra boy finally wakes.” The doctor didn’t sound nearly as happy as he had in the past. Keith wondered if maybe he really had died, or nearly at least. Until the doctor came into his field of view and he could see the fist-sized dent in the doctor’s face. He felt a smug satisfaction, knowing he’d gotten one in on the lizard man. Of course, he was still the one tied to the bed, so it didn’t mean that much.   
Keith made a noise in his throat, somewhere between a growl and a whimper. That brought back the doctor’s amusement.   
“Even though you freaked, Zarkon will be very happy with your new development~” Keith’s heart skipped a beat, and he clenched his jaw. “Little Galra boy still has some fight. Zarkon won’t care for that, he thought he squashed it all out of you…” Z tapped his claw against his scaled chin. “Perhaps we should let the other Paladins ‘find’ you, and kill them… Maybe then you’ll be manageable…” Keith flinched at the implication. He would be used as bait… To kill his friends. No, no way would they be that stupid… Actually, they would be whispered a small, traitorous voice in the back of his mind. They’re bleeding heroes, they would jump at the chance to save you in a second, the voice continued. He knew it was right. Keith deflated, tension easing out of his jaw.   
“Ahahahaha, so you care more for their lives than your own? Well, now, we may just have to squash that out of you too.” Keith didn’t like the sounds of that, but he forced himself to stay calm. This doctor wasn’t going to win. Zarkon was not going to win

Z finally left. Keith was so stiff he didn’t know if he could make it even to the toilet, but he had to move. That was the only way he could cling to his last shred of sanity. Or, at least that was the idea until his feet hit the floor. Wait, feet? As in plural? His legs had been numb most of the day, and he’d been so tied up with other stuff to notice. His dream rushed back to him, slapping him in the face. In the space of his left leg was a carefully sculpted metal leg. The purple tinted metal glinted up at him. He could move it, not overly well, but it was his. He felt sick.  
Grabbing his crutch, Keith limped to the toilet, vomiting into the ceramic bowl. This new leg was heavy and awkward, and it hurt. It was cold and stung every time he moved. Whether that was on purpose or not, he didn’t know. His head was spinning. A flash of a memory spun through his mind, and he grabbed it.   
It was Shiro, talking about his arm. “Galra tech” was the exact phrase he’d used. Keith wretched again, the leg seeming to hum against his skin. He leaned back, wiping his mouth. At least, Dr. Z had the decency to give him some new pants with that new leg. Of course, the leg over the Galra tech was rolled up, giving him perfect view of the shiny purple metal. Purple. Of course they made it purple.   
No. No, if Shiro could handle it, so could Keith. He swallowed the bile rising in his throat. This wouldn’t beat him. Something surfaced in his memory. Shiro talking about how the tech arm was stronger, able to punch through Galra cells. Keith tilted his head at the leg, the beginnings of a plan forming. Maybe he could bust out of here yet… They’d given him a weapon after all. Zarkon wasn’t as smart as he pretended to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm super bad at replying to comments but, I do read them all and I thrive off of them tbh (especially if it's positive review stuff!) so ya. Thanks all for the kudos and comments, it's great and it makes me super happy~ <3


	7. Chapter 7

All it took was a little acting. Keith made Z believe he’d given up, made him believe that leg was a burden, and he couldn’t use it. Z bought it hook line and sinker. The foolish doctor left the door unlocked while he went to get more tools, one day. Keith took advantage of it and ran. He didn’t have guards, and the halls were deserted. But the ship? Oh, the ship was so easy to navigate. It mirrored a ship he’d studied in the Garrison.   
Keith was almost to the escape pods when an alarm sounded. He’d been found out. He froze, back against the wall, waiting to be blasted. But… Nothing happened? Nobody charged him, nobody was even yelling his name?   
And then he heard it. A roar. The lions of Voltron. Or, most of them anyways. Keith had no delusions of seeing Red there, unpiloted. Or if she was there, with someone else piloting her. He shuddered at that thought, leaning heavily against the wall. His adrenaline was wearing off and the months of near starvation and experimentation was taking its toll. He was tired, and honestly, Keith just wanted to sleep.   
No, he needed to get out. Keith forced himself to push off the wall, stumbling the rest of the way to the escape pods. It wasn’t easy, the ship rocking from the lion’s assault, but he made it, with minimum vomit.   
Unfortunately, the escape pods were secured. Three soldiers stood guard, eyeing each other warily. Keith cussed under his breath, watching them. Maybe the chaos would be enough to get them out? No, probably not… He tried to breath, to think.  
Just then, the wall of the ship tore off, and the guards were sucked out with the force of it. It was now or never. Keith launched into the closest pod, ignoring as debris ripped through his flesh. He’d suffered worse.   
His pod launched straight into the green lion’s face. Keith nearly fainted, both from fear and relief. Why the hell was Pidge right there of all places?! He could practically hear her squeak. The radio in the pod shrieked out static for a moment before her voice came through. Keith probably did faint in relief.   
“Identify yourself, pod!” Silence. “I will blast you to smithereens if you don’t identify yourself!” He scrambled for the button, barely hitting it before he heard the green lion’s blasters firing up.   
“P-pidge! It’s me!” Keith’s voice was hoarse and quiet, so unlike his usual one, but he knew she heard. He knew she recognized it.   
“K-keith…?” She asked, a slight tone of hope creeping in. He heard Lance’s breath catch on the other side of her transmission. Of course, she was broadcasting to the whole team, so they knew.   
“Uh-huh…” He slurred out. His vision was going black around the edges. Shit. Keith looked down, his torso red with blood. Well, shit. “I-I… Hurt…” He heard Pidge’s sharp intake of breath, and then he collapsed to the ground, struggling for breath. His body ached, his ribs still broken and sore. Now this? A piece of metal sticking through him? Keith wondered if maybe he’d over used his luck before. At least he could hear his team yelling through the radio. That was more than enough for him. And then the black swallowed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay rescue!! His hardships are done!! Or are they~? ;D


	8. Chapter 8

“… Are… You sure that’s him…?” Lance eyed the pod hesitantly. Pidge’s voice had gone up three octaves as soon as Keith vanished off the radio.  
“Positive! I have voice software in my lion, his voice matches. He sounded pretty beat up… Shiro, Hunk, can you guys take care of the ship? Lance and I want to get Keith back asap!”  
“We got this!” Shiro replied, turning away from the pod. Hunk huffed into the radio, clearly not 100% okay with this plan, but nonetheless, his lion followed the black lion’s retreating form. “Come on Lance, open up~” Pidge chattered, using her lion to shove the pod toward Blue’s mouth. The lion grasped the pod gently but firmly between her large teeth, turning and jetting towards the castle, Pidge hot on her heels. 

They had barely sealed the hanger doors before Allura was rushing towards them, Coran close behind. Pidge barely waited for her lion to stop, leaping out of it and rushing the pod the moment Blue set it down.  
“Keith!” Pidge yanked at the door, wondering if he could hear. It didn’t matter, the blast to the pod hanger had knocked the locking mechanism off, and the door swung open with enough force. She and Lance rushed in, straight towards the alarmingly frail figure curled on the floor. Blood was everywhere, and Keith’s breathing was shallow.  
Pidge was reaching towards him, to straighten his limps out, when Lance grabbed her arm.  
“That’s… That’s not Keith…” Lance was pale, his grip tight on Pidge’s wrist. She gaped at him.  
“What?! I told you, the voice was him!”  
“Pidge… Look at him!” She blinked at the Paladin before looking down at the body at her feet. Pidge drew back, revulsion clear on her face.  
“What the…? How could it fool the voice software?” She was pissed. The figure laying on the floor was a Galra. Ears poked out of his skull, purple and strange against the short black hair. The skin had a purple tint, although with how pale the figure was, it could just be lighting. But the ears left no doubt. Galra. Allura waited in the doorway, squinting at them. She couldn’t hear them.  
“I don’t know… Maybe we should… Wake it?” Lance suggested, glancing at Allura. “Make it explain itself?”  
“With that much blood loss, I don’t think we can wake it, not without healing it…” Pidge trailed off, taking a couple more steps back.  
“Well? What is it Paladins? Is something wrong with Keith?” Lance swallowed hard as Allura spoke.  
“Ummmm… Well… It’s…” Lance didn’t know how to say it.  
“I don’t think it is Keith.” Pidge admitted, defeated. She’d been the one to call it in as Keith. This fell on her. “It’s a Galra.” Allura’s face twisted in disgust and her grip on the doorframe tightened.  
“How?!” She would have gone on, if the hanger door hadn’t opened, allowing two more lions to fly in. Shiro and Hunk were quick to get off their lions, Shiro striding over, spine stiff.  
“Why are we all just standing here? Is Keith okay?” His voice was tight with worry and he shouldered past Allura, striding towards the unconscious form.  
“Shiro, wait.” Lance put an arm out, stopping the Black Paladin. “It’s not Keith. It’s a Galra.” Shiro blinked, tilting his head at the figure.  
“But the software.”  
“It was wrong.” Pidge’s voice was bitter. Shiro chewed the inside of his cheek before pushing gently by Lance. He knelt beside the Galra, pulling the body over to look at the Galra’s face.  
“He’s badly injured. Let’s get him in a healing pod. If it’s not Keith, he might have some answers for us.” The rest of the Paladins nodded. They didn’t want a Galra on board, but Shiro was right. They had to find Keith, and this Galra might have an idea. Allura, however, hmphed in indignation.  
“It is a Galra, we should just set it adrift to die!” She growled, glaring at Shiro. He took a while to respond, carefully gathering the body into his arms.  
“Allura. We are Voltron, we don’t leave innocent aliens to die, and even if he’s not innocent, he deserves a trial.” She didn’t look convinced, but after a long stare down, she sighed.  
“Alright, fine, but it is not worth a healing pod. Do what you must to get him awake. Coran, please help them.” The princess turned on her heel and stomped off. Pidge watched her go, wondering if she shouldn’t go along. Shiro sighed, nodding to Coran to lead the way to the healing bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder that Allura hates Galra with everything she has. :)


	9. Chapter 9

Keith didn’t even need to open his eyes to know how bright the room was. The doctor was really trying to torture him today. He was succeeded. Everything hurt, even more than it had the previous day. That, and Keith knew he was trapped on the bed. Whatever the lizard man was doing, he wasn’t done yet.   
He lay there as long as he could, listening to the absolute silence before cracking his eyes open. Even just that much sight sent him crashing back to reality. He’d escaped. Hadn’t he? Keith tried to bolt upright, only to find tight leather straps holding him down. As he fought, he heard voices, which abruptly cut off.   
“-Awake!”   
“Hey! Stop!” They were familiar, and not gravely and sadistic. Keith froze, his heartrate slowing as his gaze focused on first Hunk, and then Pidge. He had escaped. It wasn’t a dream, and the doctor hadn’t caught him again. The Paladin’s exchanged a glance, before blinking down at him. Wait, if they were there… Why was he tied down…? Keith’s gaze darted between them.   
“I know this is probably really confusing, but we’re here to help.” Pidge spoke, her words soft and comforting. Keith’s brain screamed alarm bells.   
“… Idge…” His voice didn’t want to work, his throat burned with the effort.   
“How do you know me?” She asked, a slight edge of suspicion sharpening her words.   
“… Me… Keith… It’s… Me.” He forced the words out, screwing his eyes shut against the pain.   
“Uh-huh, and I’m actually Matt.” She snapped, immediately regretting her temper. Hunk frowned at her, holding up his hands.   
“Hey, I’m Hunk. We want to help you get better, but you need to help us.” Keith bit back a growl. Why didn’t they see that it was him?! Sure, his hair was shorn, but that didn’t mean he looked that different?!   
“Lemme up…” The words were a little steadier, but his throat still burned. The Paladins exchanged a look. Pidge nodded, and Hunk hurried to the door, locking it with a specific code. That was protocol if they had a dangerous person on board. Keith watched them, confused. As soon as the door was sealed, the pressure from the straps eased.   
He carefully sat up, flinching at the pain in his… Well, everywhere. His chest was burning, the straps having pushed against his broken ribs. His leg still felt weighted and awkward. This was gonna be a hell of a show for his friends. Keith swung his legs over the edge of the bench they’d laid him on, rising unsteadily. Pidge looked torn between rushing forward to help and getting into a defensive stance. He wavered on his feet, the floor waving under his feet. His head was pounding again. Keith didn’t know what it felt like to not have a headache at this point.   
Nearly falling every few feet, Keith made it to a sink against the wall. He turned it on, running his hands under the water, relishing in the feeling. He was filthy, and he hesitated to look in the mirror.   
When he finally did, he regretted it. Keith let out a small, strangled scream, falling backwards over his own feet and crashing painfully to the floor. He groaned, hugging his arms around his middle, feeling the stitches on a long gash in his side. What the hell? What the hell?!   
The doctor’s harsh voice rang out through his ears. Something about a transformation… Was… Was that what he’d meant? He’d known Keith was part Galra… Keith reached up, tugging on an ear. It hurt. Yep, that was definitely part of him.   
He was painfully aware of Hunk and Pidge studying him, and everything made sense. Part Galra, they knew, but he looked full Galra. If only he didn’t feel like he was burning from the inside out, maybe he could tell them. That, and he wasn’t sure he could talk about what had happened…   
“Are you okay?” Pidge took a couple steps towards him, obviously reluctant to approach.   
“Where’s Red?” Keith croaked, trying to get his Galra leg under him. I shouldn’t refer to it like that, both my legs are Galra now… he thought bitterly, finally heaving to his feet.   
“Excuse me?”   
“My lion… Where…?” The floor rocked under him again and he felt nauseas. Keith spun around, grabbing the sink to hold himself up. His leg felt weak under him. Of course, the tech leg didn’t have a problem holding him.   
“You don’t have a lion.” Hunk spoke up, watching the Galra suspiciously. “I don’t know who you are, but it’s not who you think you are. We don’t have a mo- Galra on team Voltron.” Keith’s heart sank. He knew what Hunk had started to say. Monster. Keith knew that’s what he looked like.   
“Please. Just… Let me see her…” His voice was growing in strength, but his throat still burnt. He felt like he had a hole in his heart, now that he was back on the ship, but so far from his lion. Keith didn’t know when he’d become so reliant on her. It was pathetic. Pidge and Hunk looked at each other. Pidge shrugged, and Hunk sighed. He knew he won. It was definitely the please that did it.   
“Okay, but you can’t just expect us to let you walk through our… Base without any restraint. If you fight, you don’t get to go.” Pidge said, holding up a collar and cuffs. They were connected by electricity, meant to immobilize a prisoner at a second’s notice. Keith shuddered, scared of the idea of being confined again. Of being hurt again. They watched him, Hunk looking very unhappy but resigned.   
“O-okay…” Keith finally agreed, trying to keep the waver out of his voice. Pidge crossed slowly towards him, holding out the restraints. He held up his hands, closing his eyes as they clicked onto his skinny wrists, the collar fastening around his neck. He could feel the energy pulsing through the metal. One wrong move and he’d be fried.   
“Don’t faint on us.” Pidge sounded worried, watching Keith sway on his feet. He hadn’t eaten in over a week, and that didn’t even take his injuries into account.   
“I’ll… Try not to… Wouldn’t want you dragging me around…” It was a lame attempt at humor. Pidge’s lips twitched, and her eyes flickered. That was Keith humor… But this wasn’t- couldn’t be- Keith… She bit her lip, studying him. His eyes were grey, like Keith’s. His face had the same shape. His hair was the same color. Whoever had held this Galra, hadn’t been very nice to any part of him, not even sparing his hair. It was choppily shorn down, and strips of skin had been taken off with the hair. She felt bad for him, whoever he was.   
“Come on…” Hunk cast her another doubtful look, but shrugged and opened the door anyways. Pidge and Hunk led Keith down halls, straight to the red lion’s hangar. They were grateful not to run into anyone, that would have been awkward. Keith’s shuffling, lame gait made for slow going though.   
Finally, they opened the hangar door, and he limped in, holding up his hands as he approached the shield around Red.   
“Hey girl…” He muttered, pressing a palm against the red material. As his voice filled the quiet, the lion rumbled a purr and the shield dropped, the giant red head lowering to the floor in front of Keith. Pidge and Hunk stared, stunned. If Red was responding like that… Then… They looked at each other.   
“You… Really are Keith…” Hunk stated. Keith had a hand on the giant nose, and he looked over his shoulder, a ghost of a smile on his lips.   
“Told you…” He forced out, tears pricking his eyes. That was more alarming than anything. Keith, crying? Pidge took a step forward, watching him, dumb struck.   
“Keith… I’m… So sorry!” She sniffled, trying to hold back tears. He just shrugged, enjoying the cold metal of his lion’s nose. Red rumbled a purr.  
“… I wouldn’t… Believe me either…” He muttered, reaching up and tugging an ear. Pidge’s heart broke for him then. She shuffled forward, reaching towards the cuffs. She deactivated the restraints, and they fell away, collar too. Pidge touched his arm gently, peering up at her friend’s purple face.   
Keith, however, flinched away from her touch, his eyes glazing over in panic. Pidge withdrew, pulling her hands to her chest.   
“I’m sorry!” She cried, a tear leaking from her eye. What had happened to him? He’d been missing for nearly 5 months… And why had he changed? “Do you… Do you want to talk about what happened?” She asked hesitantly. Keith shuddered, turning his face away from her. She thought for sure he was going to yell. Instead, he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why they took him to see the lion, I have no fucking idea. Like you'd think, after everything, they'd be a little more careful with their shit?? At least Hunk is like "I don't like this" kinda? Pidge is just like let's see what happens lmfao.   
> Is this out of character? Probably. Do I care? Kinda. Am I gonna change it? Nah man I'm fucking lazy lmfao


	10. Chapter 10

This time, waking up was much more pleasant. He still hurt, but at least he wasn’t tied down, the room wasn’t bright (not dark either though, which might have been for the best), and he could hear the low murmur of nearby voices. A small groan escaped his lips as he tried to sit up, and the voices cut off. A door slid open and light flooded the room.   
“Keith!” Lance’s voice was entirely too loud for him having just woken up. That, and his ears were much more sensitive. Shiro put a hand on Lance’s shoulder, raising an eyebrow. They’d all noticed how Keith flinched, unconsciously curling into himself. At least he wasn’t being called “little Galra boy” anymore. “Hey buddy.” Lance tried again, quieter. Pidge and Hunk peered in over the other’s shoulders, grinning at the red Paladin. Keith held up a hand, cringing at the pain in his ribs and side.   
“Hey kid.” Shiro said softly, brushing past Lance and perching on the edge of a chair by Keith’s bed. “I know you’re in pain, but Allura’s… Still not sure you’re actually Keith… She doesn’t want you using the pod.” It hurt Shiro to admit it, Keith could tell. Allura’s refusal hurt the team deeply. Keith looked away from them, trying to think of something to say.   
“That’s okay, we’ll all show her you’re really Keith and then she’ll let you use the pod!” Lance’s optimism was more shadowed than usual, but he was trying. Keith drew his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on them. He refused to let them see how much pain he was actually in. They lapsed into silence, an awkward pressure hanging over them. There was a question sitting on all their lips, and Keith didn’t want to answer.   
“Keith… I know it’s hard, but… Can you tell us what happened?” Shiro’s voice was calm and gentle, and he tried for a small, reassuring smile. Keith screwed his eyes shut, breathing in through his nose. No. No, he could not. Or, maybe just would not. He wasn’t sure. He finally settled for shaking his head, keeping his eyes closed. He could feel the disappointment in the air. They were all worried. Lance plopped into the chair next to Shiro, studying Keith’s face. Pidge and Hunk hovered in the doorway.   
“… I don’t… I don’t know how…” His hoarse voice broke the silence, and Lance flinched. It sounded so painful for him to talk, yet Keith was forcing the words out. “They just… Kept injecting this… Stuff… It hurt…” He trailed off, his voice cracking over the last word. Lance felt the anger crackling off Shiro. He took it personally if anyone hurt his team. Lance met Shiro’s gaze, nodding slightly. Shiro wanted to take to Allura. He wanted Lance to stay. They’d talked about this before.   
“Keith… I’m going to try to talk Allura into letting us use a pod. I’ll be back soon, okay?” Keith nodded, his eyes still closed. Shiro didn’t hesitate, just stalked out of the room. Lance watched him go then turned back to Keith. He was shivering.  
“Are you cold?” Lance asked dumbly. He felt Pidge roll her eyes from the doorway. He shot her a dirty look.   
“No…” Keith replied after a long moment. He opened his eyes, staring at the wall. His grey eyes were glazed over, and he seemed to be lost in a memory. Lance reached out towards Keith, then thought better of it and dropped his hand. Keith shuddered violently, his eyes closing as he snapped back to the present.   
“Did… Did they do anything else besides that nice skin tone?” Lance asked cautiously. Keith turned to stare at him, looking shocked. Lance didn’t get why he’d be shocked. Keith, however, was wondering how nobody had failed to notice… Unless they hadn’t really looked at him. Or maybe they had, when he was not-Keith, and then forgotten it.   
“…I guess…?” Keith spoke slowly, cringing as he stretched his legs out, the blanket slipping off his lap. Lance tried to grab it before it hit the ground, but he froze when he saw Keith’s leg.   
“K-Keith…? What is that…?” Lance’s eyes were fixed on the purple metal, horror washing over his features. Pidge moved closer, fascinated, while Hunk looked like he was going to be sick. Keith let his upper body fall back, sucking in a breath at the pain in his ribs. Pidge inched closer, reaching out towards the appendage.   
“Galra tech…” She muttered, eyes alight. Shiro had forbidden her from studying his arm any further than the surface, but Keith… Maybe he’d let her… He certainly wasn’t trying to chase her off yet.   
“Ya…” He breathed out, putting an arm over his eyes. Pity welled up in Lance, and he almost took Keith’s other hand, before he remembered that, injured or not, Keith would probably brain him for such an action.   
“Can I… Can I touch it?” Pidge asked, barely containing her excitement. Keith barked a bitter laugh, surprising all of them.   
“Better you than me.” The words were laced with a private pain. Lance’s heart shattered. Even Pidge looked upset by the words. Keith didn’t want to be a Galra, he didn’t want to look like this, and he really didn’t want that stupid leg. Pidge gently touched the metal, studying it carefully. It was warm, warmer than it should have been. Keith didn’t move. She pressed a little harder on the metal, and he finally flinched.   
“Can you feel anything through it?” She asked, curious how far the nerves went.   
“Just pressure.” He answered shortly, trying to keep his breathing under control. Pidge drew back, hearing the starts of hysteria in his voice.   
“Hey, Keith, you’re okay, you’re safe.” Lance heard it too, his voice low and trying to comfort. Just what they needed, a freak out from the injured party. Who knows what he could or would do. Keith just grunted, his breathing turning more erratic. Pidge motioned to Hunk, who nodded and ran out of the room. They’d discussed this: should Keith start to panic, they needed Shiro. He could always calm Keith… At least he used to be able to. Hopefully he still could.   
Shiro must have been close by, because it didn’t take long before he rushed in, Hunk and Allura in tow. Keith’s breathing was ragged, gasping for air as panic seized him. Pidge and Lance were seconds away from pinning him down, in case he should try to run. They moved back as Shiro marched over.   
“Keith? Hey, Keith, listen to me.” His breath hitched, but his head tilted towards the sound of Shiro’s voice. “You’re safe, nobody can hurt you anymore, you’re in the castle.” Shiro kept his voice low, crouching down beside Keith. He wanted to reach out, to rub Keith’s tense shoulder, but he’d seen the teen flinch away from the idea of touch, and knew it wouldn’t help. Thankfully, his words seemed to help. He could see tension ease out of Keith’s shoulders, the panic settling. “Red is just downstairs, too. Everyone is here, nobody is going to let you get hurt again.” Lance watched Keith intently, feeling the moment when his panic finally broke. It seemed to snap through the air, the moment Keith realized where he was and he settled. His breathing was still ragged, and his chest still heaved, but at least he was back with them. Allura stared on, rage evident all over her face. It oozed off her, and Lance felt torn between shielding Keith from it, and shrinking away.  
“Allura…” Lance started, stepping towards her.   
“That,” She started, jabbing a finger towards the Galra spread on the bed, “is not Keith.” And she spun around, stomping from the room. Keith had stiffened again, but his panic was over. He lowered his arm from his face, catching a glimpse of her leaving. He took a deep breath through his nose, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling through his mouth. Lance studied his face. Shiro stared after Allura, his expression stormy.   
“To hell with Allura, we need to get you in a healing pod asap.” Shiro muttered, turning back to Keith. “Think you can walk to the hospital bay?” Keith blinked at him, but nodded. Lance edged in to help Keith up, watching him carefully. They’d given him juice and water, to hopefully get his energy up, but nobody was sure if he could eat yet. They didn’t know how long he’d been starved. The bandages only seemed to outline how skinny Keith was. Lance hated this. He hated seeing Keith like this. If he wasn’t sure they’d blown up whoever did this, he’d fly out to strangle them himself. Keith stumbled due to his Galra tech leg, and Lance caught his arm. Keith flinched, but didn’t completely pull away from the contact. Lance felt equal parts guilty and excited. Keith didn’t pull away from his touch, unlike he did with everyone else. Maybe this would be okay. 

Or, at least that was what ran through his mind till they got to the hospital bay. As soon as the pod was pulled up, Keith set his heels and all the blood drained out of his face.   
“Keith? Buddy? It’s okay, come on, it’ll help you.” Lance had never seen so much emotion from the other, and it frightened him. Keith shook his head, the look he cast the pod a mixture between horror, disdain, anger, and anguish. He wanted the healing, but it felt like a cage. Keith felt his heart rate pick up again. Shiro could see the fear on Keith’s face and he blocked the younger teen’s view of the pod.   
“Keith, you’re fine. It’s going to help you. Come on, do it for me?”   
“I c-can’t…” He took a step back, screwing his eyes shut. Shiro deflated. He knew what it felt like to be a prisoner. If someone had tried to get him in a tiny pod right after he’d gotten free, he would have fought them. Keith probably would too, if he weren’t about 40 pounds lighter than he had been when they lost him.   
“I understand…” Shiro reached out, putting a hand on top of Keith’s head. Keith stiffened, but didn’t pull away. He didn’t open his eyes, just stood, shoulders hunched. “Hey, Hunk spent all day cleaning your room up, you want to go see?” Keith blinked at Shiro, leaning against Lance slightly.   
“Ummm… Sure…?” He did, but it was a long walk. Keith wasn’t sure he could make it, his legs already ached. Lance seemed to catch his train of thought.   
“Don’t worry, I can always carry you~” He was teasing him, grinning brightly as he nudged Keith’s shoulder. Keith rolled his eyes, and Shiro felt relief flood through him. Keith would be okay. He’d pull through this, he was strong enough. Shiro dropped his hand, smiling.   
“Alright, kids, let’s go. No fighting.” Shiro felt hope blossom through his chest for the first time since Keith had gone missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Casually remembers halfway through this fic that I can't actually write* Lmfao I'm so sorry guys this is so bad  
> On another note, thanks to everyone who has commented or given me kudos, it all means a lot to me <3


	11. Chapter 11

They were silent as they walked slowly towards Keith’s room. Lance’s thoughts took a dark turn, and he started to wonder if Keith hated him. If he’d paid attention, Keith might not have been taken… If he’d noticed the bomb, or been faster… Ya, Keith probably hated him. Lance kept his thoughts to himself, his nervous energy threatening to bubble out.   
When they finally reached the red Paladin’s room, both Keith and Lance were relieved. Keith wanted to sleep, Lance wanted to hide for the rest of his life. The door slid open, and Keith blinked in shock. The room was completely clean and bright. It had a pleasant smell, even. Hunk had really done a good job.   
“… Wow…” Keith muttered under his breath, taking a couple steps into his room, leaving Shiro and Lance outside. He knew everything was there, but it was clean. Clean, and familiar. The walls were covered with pictures, that hadn’t been there before. Keith’s breath hitched as he studied them. They were pictures of the team. The lions clustered together. The Paladins at dinner, Keith scowling as Lance laughed at his own lame joke. A group shot of the lions in front of the castle, the Paladins at their paws, all grins. Pictures of Keith and Lance arguing. Shiro and Keith sparring. Hunk and Keith in the kitchen, Keith looking particularly reviled by whatever Hunk had cooked.   
He felt a small laugh bubble inside him, but it came out as a sob. Shiro immediately stepped to his side, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.   
“You okay?” Keith didn’t flinch. He nodded, eyes scanning the pictures. It was… Uplifting. Keith probably should have hated it, but even alone, it was a reminder that he wasn’t actually alone. For once, he had friends. He had people at his back, people he trusted.   
“It’s… Clean…” He finally managed out, swiping at his nose with the back of his hand. He seriously doubted Hunk had just hung these pictures up. It looked like months of work. Which made him wonder how long he’d really been stuck in that room… Keith chewed on the inside of his cheek. His teeth were sharp and he hissed as they tore into his cheek. Shiro was watching him carefully, gauging Keith’s reaction.   
“Hunk’s been taking care of it since… Ya…” Lance trailed off lamely, turning his face away from Keith and Shiro. Guilt gnawed at his core, and he didn’t want either of them seeing it. They didn’t need to just then.   
“… I should… Probably thank him…” Keith replied, slipping out of Shiro’s grip to walk along the wall, eyes skimming the pictures. It was bittersweet. That was before, but now Keith looked the part of a monster, and even Lance and Shiro seemed to hesitate around him. One part of him wanted to curl up and never leave the room, another part wanted to burn all the photos, and still another part wanted to never leave his team mates’ sides. Basically, it sucked, and there were more emotions running through Keith at that point than he thought should be entirely possible.   
“Tomorrow. For now, you look like you need rest… And maybe some food.” Shiro’s eyes followed Keith, balancing on the balls of his feet, ready to catch the teen should he stumble, or worse, pass out.   
“I don’t remember when they fed me last… Maybe a week and a half ago…?” It was Shiro’s turn to flinch. Keith said it so naturally. Like being fed ever 10-11 days was normal. Lance’s eyes flashed with barely contained anger. Whoever did this to Keith had better be dead, or they’d have to deal with the wrath of Shiro and Lance.   
“Then we’ll start slow.” Shiro’s voice was soft, and he stepped towards Keith. “I’ll bring you some soup.” Keith blinked at the older teen, his ears twitching. Okay, that was weird, and Lance didn’t like it. Shiro kept his face neutral, but his gaze had flicked uncertainly to the furry ears.   
“… I can’t talk you out of this, can I?” Keith’s voice cracked, and he finally made it to his bed, sinking onto the mattress gratefully.  
“Not unless you get in that healing pod.” Shiro replied gently. Keith’s expression closed off and he shook his head. Not going to happen. “I’ll be quick. Lance, you wanna stay here?” Lance jumped. He hadn’t been listening, lost in his own thoughts.   
“Huh? Oh, ya, sure. Of course~” Shiro shook his head and retreated from the room. Lance settled into the desk chair, stretching his legs out in front of him.   
“I don’t need a baby sitter.” Keith grumbled, flopping down on his soft mattress. A layer of stress seemed to melt off him. Lance blinked at him, chewing his lip uncertainly.   
“How about a dog sitter?” He said smartly, instantly regretting his words. Keith, however, actually snorted, a smile playing over his lips.   
“Probably don’t need that either…” Keith huffed, putting an arm over his eyes. “Maybe a dog catcher though…” The words were barely more than a breath, and Lance’s heart broke all over again.   
“Hey, dog or not, you’re still Keith. Allura’s just pissy cause she wants cool ears and purple skin.” Shut up Lance!! Rang through Lance’s head, but nope, he wasn’t done yet. “And Hunk probably just wants to pet you, but is pretty sure you’ll take his hand off, so he’s trying to figure out what to do there.” He was yammering, probably making the situation worse. But, Lance couldn’t shut up. His nervous energy burst out. “And Pidge is probably trying to figure out how that could even happen, cause generally people can’t really get like… Dog ears… And skin generally doesn’t just turn purple.” Keith was quiet, his face hidden by his arms. Lance chuckled nervously, wringing his hands. “And Shiro? Shiro’s just… Really worried… We were there, and then you weren’t, but I was, and he spent a good month beating himself up about this, saying if he’d had been there it wouldn’t have happened and just… He’s really worried.”   
“It wasn’t his fault.” Keith said, exhaustion lacing his words. “Wasn’t yours either though…” Lance’s spine snapped straight, and he frowned at the other Paladin. Keith had been able to get that through his words? Not even Shiro had picked up on his guilt… Lance shook his head, clearing those thoughts away.   
“I never said it was.” But it was a losing argument, he knew that. Aside from how unconvincing he sounded, Keith was fading fast. Chances are, if he knew the pilot at all, he’d offer a rebuttal, and then fall asleep.   
Keith made a small noise, shifting on his bed and dropping one of his arms, peering at Lance. The Cuban’s breath hitched. He didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone look as vulnerable as Keith did right then. It hurt, seeing his friend like that.   
And then the door whooshed open and the vulnerability was gone as Shiro entered and Keith jerked awake, carrying a small bowl.   
“Hunk said this would be like tomato soup, but I don’t know… This space food is really confusing.” Shiro glanced between the two, raising an eyebrow. Keith opened his mouth, probably to fight Shiro, and it earned him a stern look. “Eat, then you can sleep and we’ll all leave you alone.” Keith puffed his hollow cheeks out, hesitating before nodding. He forced himself to sit up, face twisted in pain. Lance’s heart ached for him.   
Shiro drug the small desk over to the bed, setting the bowl on top and stepping back. Lance still perched in the chair, and Shiro leaned against the wall by the door. Keith arched an eyebrow at them, one hand rubbing the edge of his tech leg unconsciously.   
“Gonna watch me eat…?” Keith asked, exhausted. Shiro’s entrance had jerked him back awake, but Keith was still tired. The thought that Keith was willing to sleep in front of him, but not Shiro, briefly passed through Lance’s mind, lifting his heart a little.   
“Yep.” Shiro tilted his back, peering down his nose at Keith, daring him to fight. “I want to make sure you eat it all.” There was a history behind those words, and Keith got it straight away. Lance, did not. He glanced between them, frowning. Keith looked annoyed, but too tired to get legitimately angry. Keith blew his breath out through his nose and turned back to the bowl, scooping a spoonful into his mouth. He blinked, looking at the bowl.   
“I’m guessing it tastes alright?” Lance asked without thinking, still pondering over that private history Shiro had played off of. Keith nodded, not looking up as he spooned more into his mouth. He was ravenous. This wasn’t enough to make up for a week and a half with no food, but it would have to do… Maybe tomorrow he could sneak away and get some actual food.   
It was done too soon. Although, now he could actually sleep in peace, so maybe that was okay. Shiro took the bowl and Lance drug the desk back to its place while Keith lay down, trying to ignore his chest, radiating with pain at the movement.  
Shiro hesitated, watching Keith. He didn’t want to leave, afraid the younger teen would vanish again… But he knew Keith wouldn’t exactly want people watching while he slept. Shiro sighed, running his hand over his face.   
“You’ll be okay?” Shiro asked, putting a hand on his hip. He was still by the door, hesitant to move farther in. Keith had always preferred his space, and Shiro didn’t want to push it. Keith rolled onto his side, eyeing the older Paladin.   
“Ya, ya… Just go away…” He grumbled, fighting to keep his eyes open. Lance stood from his chair, chewing the inside of his cheek. He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead hung his head and shuffled out the door, Shiro reluctantly following.   
“I’ll be just down the hall if you need anything, Keith.” Shiro muttered, flicking the light off before the door slid closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many times did I use the words "exhausted" or "tired" like what are words? Honestly I think I wrote this when *I* was super tired lmfao


	12. Chapter 12

Keith had always liked night. He liked being alone, and he liked the dark. The doctor had kept him in a brightly lit room 24/7. The dark washed over him and he felt tension ease out of him. The door sliding closed was a relief too. He let his eyes close, breathing deep. Keith’s shoulder started to ache and he shifted to laying on his back again. His chest screamed in pain.   
Maybe he should just use the healing pod… But that still felt too much like being back on that table… Keith rubbed his face, yawning. He really needed to stop thinking so much… It would make sleep a lot easier if he could stop thinking.   
Maybe he should have asked Shiro to stay… No, he should have asked Lance to stay. Shiro was a bundle of worry. Lance at least had been trying to joke. Trying, and failing, but at least he was trying. He tugged on one of his ears, growling. Why did this happen? How did this happen? It shouldn’t have been possible…   
Little Galra boy~ Rang through his mind, and he stiffened. Keith knew the lizard had planned this. He just… Couldn’t figure out why. He ground the heel of his palms into his eyes, groaning. Why could he sleep with people around, but as soon as they left his brain sprang into action? It was annoying.   
Keith shook his head, dropping his arms to his sides. He was so tired… He was tired, and he was safe. He could finally sleep now. Keith took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.   
It didn’t take him long to fall asleep after that. 

Lance, however, didn’t sleep. He couldn’t calm down enough. It didn’t feel real, that they’d got Keith back and he was going to be okay. Lance sat on his bed, worrying with the edge of his pj top.   
What worried Lance the most was Allura. Her reaction to Keith… It was… Understandable. That didn’t mean it was right, or didn’t hurt Keith. Lance had seen Keith flinch away from her. He probably would never admit it, but her rejection made him feel like shit. Lance, quite frankly, was livid. It was still Keith, just a little… More purple. He rubbed his forehead, grinding his teeth. Lance didn’t know how to make Allura see that it was just Keith. He didn’t know if she ever would. She hated Galra, rightfully so, but Keith… Wasn’t Galra. Well, technically, but Lance didn’t play off technicalities. He was raised on Earth, by a human. Keith was a human.   
He’d been lost in thought, and wasn’t sure when he’d left his room, but Lance shook out of his thoughts to find himself standing in front of the door to Keith’s room. It was quiet inside. His heart stalled and he worried finding Keith had been a dream. Then he heard a small noise inside and relaxed. No, they had gotten Keith back.   
Lance hesitated a long moment more before opening Keith’s door, biting his lip as the whoosh of the door seemed to echo. Keith didn’t move. Lance parked himself back on Keith’s desk chair, watching the other’s face. He’d spent five months worrying about what they’d get back, and here he was…   
If he was honest with himself, Lance knew he liked Keith more than the other Paladins. More than a friend. He’d been a loudly self-proclaimed bisexual in the Garrison, and despite the teachers frowns, been caught flirting with more than one guy. He just wasn’t sure Keith was into guys… After all, during his time at the Garrison, multiple people had tried flirting with him, but Keith never seemed to care.   
Lance sighed, watching Keith’s face. He looked peaceful. It was comforting, to see that expression on the other Paladin’s face. Lance wanted to know what had happened, but even more than that, he wanted Keith to be okay. This gave him hope that the red Paladin would be okay.   
Leaning back in the chair, Lance sighed. He finally felt like he could sleep, but he didn’t want to go back to his room. Would Keith freak out if he fell asleep in the chair? Old Keith probably would have beat him within an inch of his life, but the Keith before him now? He didn’t know. Keith seemed timid, seeming to shy away from just about everything. But maybe a sleeping Lance wouldn’t be a threat.   
Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to test this theory. As he was slipping off to dream land, Keith let out a strangled cry in his sleep, jerking Lance to attention. He blinked in the dark before realizing Keith was flailing around in his sleep. The red Paladin’s fist slammed against the wall, and Lance flinched. It sounded like something had crunched, and hopefully it was the wall. God knows Keith didn’t need more injuries.   
Lance was on his feet before that train of thought was done, gently grabbing Keith’s arms and pinning him.   
“Keith! Come on Keith, wake up!” He ended up straddling the red Paladin’s hips, trying to keep him still. Lance was completely lost for how to wake Keith up. All he could do was hold him still, and say his name as loudly as he dared. It wouldn’t do to have everyone else rushing in, that really would make Keith freak. He bit his lip, his grip on Keith’s wrists tightened as he jerked violently. “Keith, you gotta wake up. You’re fine, come on, you’re home.” Whether he had just annoyed him enough, or if Lance had said something key, he wasn’t sure, but Keith woke up, panting heavily, staring up at Lance. His eyes were yellow. Lance almost jerked back, terror flickering over his face before he squashed it.   
Belatedly, Lance let go of Keith’s wrists, realizing the awkward position they were in. He scrambled off the other, a blush coloring his light brown cheeks.   
“A-ah sorry… I w-was trying to…” Lance trailed off as he watched Keith struggle up. “Hey, you shouldn’t…” He didn’t get to finish that before Keith pitched forward, falling straight at him. Lance caught him, holding him up. What was wrong with Keith? He had woken up, but he didn’t seem awake… “Hey, buddy, are you okay?”   
“Lance…” Keith’s voice was rough, and one hand fisted in the back of Lance’s top.   
“Ya, ya, I’m here. I guess you could say I’m here to support you.” Okay, that was bad. Even Lance rolled his eyes at himself. Keith shoved Lance away, and Lance almost made another bad joke, until the red Paladin vomited, managing to turn away from Lance. Lance sat there dumbly, watching for a long moment before he reached out, putting a warm hand against the small of Keith’s back, gently. His little sister had spent a lot of her childhood ill, and he was no stranger to vomit. If Keith didn’t mind him there, Lance was glad to be there. Keith didn’t shove him off, so Lance moved closer, concerned.   
“S-sorry…” Keith managed to gasp out between heaves. Lance never thought he’d hear that from Keith. That was almost more concerning than the vomiting. Almost.   
“Don’t apologize. Should I get Shiro?” Lance watched Keith carefully, trying to catch his eye. Keith shook his head, his shoulders stiffening at the question. “Okay… Is there anything I can do?” Lance rubbed his hand along Keith’s back, feeling the other shivering. Seeing the red Paladin so vulnerable hurt Lance’s heart. It wasn’t even the crush he had. Keith was always so proud and strong, and to be reduced to this… Lance really wondered what had happened.   
“… Stay…” That was literally the last thing Lance figured Keith would ask for. Water. A bucket. A blanket. Those all topped the list before staying, and yet… Lance blinked, his hand going still. Keith shuddered as a heave tore through him, but it was dry. The worst type of heave.   
“Okay.” Lance said gently. Keith curled in on himself, sitting on the edge of his bed. His head rested on his knees, and he tried to breath. The gash on his side was bleeding again, but Lance wasn’t overly concerned about it. It wasn’t bleeding heavily enough to be a real problem. “Do you… Want to talk…?” Lance was hesitant to approach that topic. Keith didn’t like help. But, he hadn’t punched Lance away yet, so maybe…   
“About…?” His breathing was calming down, and the heaves had stopped. Sleep wasn’t going to happen for either of them, but that didn’t mean Keith had to stay in the grips of a freak out.   
“I dunno, anything.” Lance shrugged, deciding not to push his luck. “Family, the Garrison, whatever.” Keith slowly straightened up, his spine popping the whole way. Lance withdrew his hand, stashing it in his lap. They were both on Keith’s bed, which in and of itself should have been awkward. But Keith seemed to be leaning towards Lance, as if he unconsciously needed the other close.   
“I didn’t really have much family.” Keith shrugged, pointedly ignoring the vomit soaking into the rug. Lance hesitated a moment before standing, much to Keith’s panic.   
“It’s okay, I just wanna grab something to clean that up with.” Lance said soothingly, motioning to the puddle. Keith nodded, shrinking into the alcove of his bed. Lance rushed out, hurrying to the cleaning closet. It took him a couple minutes, and he was back, cleaning the spot as best he could before throwing all the supplies in a bucket in the corner. He settled back down by Keith, gripped by the urge to wrap his arms over the other teen’s shoulders.   
“What was your family like?” Keith spoke before Lance could act on his impulse. Lance stilled, staring at the wall. He smiled slightly.   
“They’re pretty great… I have a little sister. She spent a lot of her childhood sick, so I used to tell her stories all the time. Sometimes, I pretend that this is just a story I’m telling her. It helps with the homesickness…” Lance trailed off, glancing over at Keith. Keith’s head was resting against the back of the alcove, and his eyes were closed, but he was still awake. His knees were pulled up to his chest, one arm resting on top of them, the other holding the wound in his side. Small shivers still ran through his body, and Lance’s expression softened. “My mom is great. She raised my sister and I after our dad… After our dad left.” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat.   
“What happened to him?” Keith asked, his voice gentle. He knew that crack.   
“… We’re not really sure… They think he was stuck in a market raid one day… He sold fruit to help me save for school. After that, I decided to take the money and go to the Garrison.” Lance knew this was lame, he had wanted to be upbeat, make Keith feel better.   
“You’re lucky. I never knew my mom, no siblings, and my dad was kinda… Well, a deadbeat…” Keith’s voice was quiet, a hint of the pain he felt laced into his words. “He left when I was 9.” Lance’s heart broke again. He’d lost track of how many times that was. “I met Shiro not long after.”   
“Where’d you meet him?” Lance couldn’t help himself. He’d always been curious about this.   
“Don’t tell him… But I kinda jumped him…” Keith sounded amused. The memory playing out behind his eyelid.   
“You what?!” Lance just barely managed to keep his voice down. “You jumped Shiro?!” Keith smiled. An actual smile.   
“Yep. Had the upper hand, for most of it, but he caught a weakness and ended up winning there…”   
“And…?” Lance was staring at Keith, awestruck.   
“He made a deal. He wouldn’t have me arrested if I cleaned up my act.” Keith shrugged, opening his eyes and stretching his back, straightening up. “Apparently, he saw some promise in me or some junk.” Lance couldn’t believe it. Well, knowing Keith, he could, but it was still amazing. Someone jumping Shiro. Wow. That took serious guts.   
“You were the best pilot… He wasn’t wrong there.” Keith peered at him. Lance nearly flinched as he met that gaze. Keith’s eyes were still yellow, just like a Galra’s. Lance had a horrible, fleeting thought that maybe, just maybe, this is what Zarkon had looked like when he was younger… Lance dismissed the thought, focusing on Keith.   
“Ya, but he was wrong that I’d be a good fit there… I fought with just about everyone.”   
“I know.” Lance almost smiled at the memories. “Except me, you never even looked at me.” Keith spared a moment for looking sheepish.   
“Ya, well, you’d probably hate me even worse by now if I had.” Lance blinked.   
“Wait, what? I don’t hate you, Keith. You’re my friend.” Keith blinked in confusion, tilting his head to the side.   
“You… Don’t…?” Lance shook his head, rolling his eyes.   
“If I hated you, do you really think we’d be able to form Voltron? Do you think I’d be here right now?”   
“… Well… I guess not…” Keith didn’t sound sure of himself. His ears drooped slightly, seeming to press against his skull. “Allura hates me now… So does Hunk… Pidge thinks I’m a science experiment…” Well, that had taken a bad turn.   
“That’s not true! Allura’s just freaked out, and Hunk could never hate you! Pidge… Well you’re probably right about Pidge.” Lance shrugged as Keith shot him a look. “I’ll keep her from dissecting you, I promise.” Keith smiled weakly, but he’d paled slightly. Ah, so he’d probably been toyed with. Lance bit his lip. “Hey, can you tell me what happened?” Keith went even paler. He turned his face away, biting the inside of his cheek between oddly sharp teeth. He tasted blood.   
“It’s okay if you don’t want to… It’s just… Sometimes that can help…” Lance put a gentle hand on Keith’s shoulder, his touch warm and comforting. Keith didn’t flinch away like Lance had expected. Instead, he leaned into the touch.   
“I know, but… I can’t…” Keith’s voice was filled with a hatred that Lance knew well. The blue Paladin frowned, brushing his knuckles up against Keith’s ear. Keith twitched away, more from the odd sensation than anything. He blinked at Lance. The yellow eyes were a bit disconcerting, but Lance knew it was still Keith.   
“Take your time, I’m not going anywhere.” It wasn’t what he had meant to say, it’s what came spilling out instead. Lance bit his lip, blushing at his own words. Keith looked down at his feet, a red tinge to his purple skin.   
“… Thanks… Lance.” Keith muttered, obviously embarrassed. A comfortable silence passed between them. And then Keith started to lean against the blue Paladin, eyelids drooping in exhaustion.   
“Hey, you should get some sleep. I’ll stay here if you want.” Lance nudged Keith with his shoulder, hoping to get the half-Galra to lay down.   
“You need sleep too…” Keith slurred out, only barely managing to lower himself down with some dignity (it still looked more like flopping over to Lance, but he would never admit that.)   
“Hm. I’ll sleep in the chair. That way you can wake me if you need me.” Honestly, he wouldn’t sleep at all in the chair, and Lance knew that, but he didn’t want to leave Keith. Clearly, neither of them felt great without the other there. He was just about to get up when an arm snaked around his torso, pulling him down.   
“S… stay…” Keith muttered around a yawn, his eyes refusing to stay open any longer. His grip wasn’t strong, and Lance could break it easily, but there was something inside Lance that was hollering. He couldn’t leave.   
“… Okay, just get some sleep…” Lance muttered, shifting to face Keith, resting his chin on the badly shaved hair on top of the red Paladin’s head. Keith didn’t even respond as he slipped off into a deep, easy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote an official letter to this jackass for towing my car and my uncle read it and said that my voice really gets through my writing. I'd just like to apologize for that lmfao XD


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus Christ I am so sorry with how long this chapter was delayed. Life's been hectic and I just. Haven't had time or motivation. Sorry :/

When Lance woke up, his first thought was how well rested he felt. That was new. He hadn’t slept well since Keith had been taken… That brought him to his next thought. Lance was in Keith’s bad. But where was Keith?   
Lance hauled himself out of bed, stretching his arms up over his head, looking around. There was absolutely no sign that Keith was even back aboard the castle, let alone that he’d been in this room. The bed looked slept in, but that could just have been Lance’s fault, seeing as how he had slept in it. Panic seeped into Lance as the idea settled in his brain. Maybe he’d been dreaming about getting Keith back. Maybe he was still out there somewhere, or dead. Lance grabbed the edge of his shirt, twisting the fabric to try to contain his nervous energy.   
He burst out into the hall and trotted towards the control room. Maybe they could find him on the cameras? Lance was just hoping so at this point. As he neared the main room, though, he slowed. Something wasn’t right. There was a heavy feel to the air. A few more steps and he could hear raised voices. No, not just raised, screaming voices. One was Allura, she was the loudest. Lance stopped, tilting his head to the side. When she yelled, she could be hard to understand, due to that whole Altean accent thing. Lance heard Coran speak, his voice carrying down the hall.   
“Princess, please, you need to calm down. Purple or not it’s still Keith.” Lance’s heart sank. He could picture Keith’s dejected look from the night before.   
“We knew he was half-Galra before, the only thing that’s changed is his appearance!” That was Shiro. Lance could picture him standing in front of Allura, gesturing madly. Was Keith in that room too? Lance really hoped not. He forced his feet to keep moving forward, drawing closer to the door.   
“Yes, well, if you’ll remember,” Allura snapped, and Lance could picture her steel-melting glare, “I objected to having even a half-Galra,” The words seemed to rip from her lips with a snarl; Lance flinched at the venom in them, and they weren’t even directed at him, “on board, as it could endanger us all.”   
“What? Do you think now that I’ve been experimented upon, I’m going to go buddy-buddy with Zarkon?” Lance’s heart plummeted, and he felt sick. That was Keith’s voice. Hoarse and low, but filled with anger. He shouldn’t have to take this. It was still Keith after all.   
“Yes.” Allura’s voice was icy, and Lance felt the temperature drop even in the hallway. He grimaced, finally reaching the open door. It felt like stepping into an active war zone (not that he had experience, he just assumed.) Nobody looked up. He’d guessed right, it was just the four who he’d heard. Pidge and Hunk must still be asleep.   
“What’s going on?” Lance tried to keep his tone and body language neutral, but he strolled right up to Keith and planted himself beside the Galra. Allura shot him an icy glare, and Shiro moved between the teens and the princess. Coran fluttered nervously beside her.   
“Allura wants to toss Keith onto the nearest planet and leave him.” Lance was watching Keith out of the side of his eye, so he saw him flinch at the words.   
“As if that’s going to happen.” Lance was surprised at the harshness of his voice. He glowered over Shiro’s shoulder, making eye contact with Allura.   
“He is a Galra. He is endangering us all.” A harsh barking laugh escaped Lance’s lips.   
“He’s also the Red Paladin and the only reason you have Voltron to begin with.” Keith blinked his strange yellow eyes at Lance. He hadn’t expected that defense. Shiro nodded tightly, folding his arms over his chest.   
“Princess… Please, let us discuss this in private.” Coran tried again, holding his hands out as if he was approaching a cornered animal.   
“No! There is no reason to be private about this! He sure isn’t being private about his Galra blood.” Allura pointed accusingly at Keith, who took a step back, his tech leg heavy against the floor. Lance bristled, moving in front of Keith.   
“Does the phrase “alien torture” mean anything to you, Princess?” Lance growled, feeling Keith’s gaze on the back of his neck. Allura flinched at Lance’s words, looking almost apologetic.   
“Yes, well it doesn’t change the fact that he is a Galra, and for all we know, he could be working for Zarkon now.” Keith snorted, making Lance jump.   
“Ya, I switched sides to join with the guy who had me tortured.” Keith spat, spinning on his heel and storming out. Lance hesitated a few seconds before shooting Allura a poisonous glare and following the red Paladin. A look of shame passed over Allura’s face, but she straightened her spine and leveled a look of pure ice at Shiro.   
“Shiro, I am well aware that you’re attached to the boy, but he is a threat now.” Shiro cringed, running his hand through his hair.   
“Allura, with all due respect, you don’t know him like I do… Keith would never help Zarkon, and he would never abandon us. If he says he was tortured, he was.” Shiro stepped towards her, holding out a hand. “Keith wouldn’t come back if he were on Zarkon’s side, and he sure as hell wouldn’t be acting like… That.” Shiro gestured vaguely. He was thinking about Keith’s reaction to the healing pod, amongst other things. Allura frowned, folding her arms over her chest.   
“Did it occur to you, Shiro, that he might be acting? There’s no reason to believe Zarkon didn’t put everything into breaking Keith.” Shiro’s shoulders sagged slightly. She’d hit on something.   
“He wouldn’t betray us. Keith isn’t like that.” Allura sighed, holding up her hands.   
“All I am asking is that we use caution, Shiro.” She met his gaze, tilting her chin up. Shiro glared at her, brow creasing.   
“From what? Our friend? The worst I can see happening is Zarkon having a way to track him in that leg, and that would not be Keith’s fault!” Allura puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.   
“Let’s hope that’s the worst that could happen.” Allura said, voice dripping with contempt. She stalked past Shiro, leaving without so much as a glance back.   
“Well, that could have gone better…” Coran muttered, staring helplessly at the door.   
“It could have…” Shiro sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides. “I need to go find Keith. Coran, think you can talk to her?” Coran blinked at Shiro, straightening his spine.   
“Of course! Just leave it to me!” The fake optimism was appreciated. Shiro felt his hopes lift slightly as Coran raced out of the room. Now it was time to go find Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hate AO3's formatting I can never figure out how to work this... Anyone have any advice on how to make the format better, so it's less like a wall of text?


	14. Chapter 14

“Keeeeeeiiiiiiiitttthhhhhhhhh come oooooonnnnnn.” Lance pleaded helplessly. He watched the half-Galra at the keyboard. Keith stubbornly ignored him. The overhead bell chimed lightly, and a robot dropped from a hole in the ceiling. “Seriously, you’ve got broken ribs, come on, don’t do this.” If he weren’t afraid of Keith drop kicking him all the way back to Earth, Lance would have grabbed him.   
“I’m fine.” Keith growled. He had anger to burn off, and this was the only way he knew how. Keith knew it was a bad idea, but it was better than letting that rage fester inside him.   
“No, you’re not!” Lance grabbed Keith’s wrist as he was reaching for a saber. Keith flinched, both from Lance’s raised voice, and the grip on his wrist. Lance immediately felt bad. “I’m sorry…” He muttered, loosening his grip. “Please don’t do this, Keith… You won’t even get in the healing pod, you’re not well enough to fight.” The concern felt strange, to both of them, but it was genuine.   
“It’s just a practice fight.” Keith grumbled, pulling his wrist away from Lance. The more he talked, the more his rage eased, and as the red fog cleared from his brain, the pain came rushing back in.   
“I don’t care! You shouldn’t do it!” Lance followed Keith as he strode across the store. He could see the tense lines in Keith’s purple face, and he could see the pain written there. Lance ducked in front of Keith, right as he got to the edge of the ring. “Keith, come on, think for a minute!” Keith was getting ready to shove Lance aside when the door whooshed open, and in sauntered Shiro.   
Shiro frowned, concern creasing his face. He saw Lance standing in Keith’s way, while the Galra held a sword, and a look of extreme anger.   
“What…?”  
“Keith is trying to train.” Lance spoke over Keith, earning a solid glare from the shorter teen.   
“Absolutely not.” Shiro’s shoulders tightened and he paced across the floor, stopping in front of Keith. Lance didn’t miss the flicker of terror across Keith’s face, but Shiro did. Keith schooled his features into pure frustration.  
“And why not?! If I’m fine enough for Allura to ditch me on some random planet, I’m fine enough to train on the lowest levels!” Shiro cringed at Keith’s words, his expression softening.   
“She’s not going to do anything to you, Keith.” Keith shrugged, looking away. He tried to look neutral, but Lance saw through it. “Kid, come on, nobody’s gonna hurt you anymore, Allura just needs time.” Keith finally met Shiro’s gaze and he huffed, puffing out his cheeks. Lance almost laughed, it was comical. His ears were drooping, and his yellow eyes were a dull golden, but his purple cheeks were puffed out and his lips a thin dark purple line. He looked defeated, and yet full of fight. It seemed that the longer Keith was back, the more like his old self he became. Lance bit his lip. He could still see whatever Keith had endured flickering inside him. Keith, apparently, would have made a wonderful actor in another life.   
“Ya, well… She makes it seem like I wanted this…” Keith shoved past Shiro, his skin crawling at the contact, and set the sword down. “Like I wanted to be a Galra…”   
“It doesn’t change anything.” Lance spoke quickly, ignoring the look Shiro shot him. “Ya, you’ve purple now, and you’re an alien, and hey, your species wiped out her whole family. That’s all true, but regardless of what you are, you’re still annoying, irksome, kick-ass Keith. She’s just… Not seeing that, for whatever reason…” Lance trailed off lamely, his face burning. Keith blinked at the Cuban, tilting his head to the side. Shiro looked between the two, hands on his hips.   
“What Lance is trying to say, is you’re still you, regardless of if you’ve got a Galra leg, or if you look like a Galra. Allura will figure that out, just give her time.” Lance nodded vigorously, giving a thumbs-up. Keith rolled his eyes, sagging his shoulders slightly. All the anger drained out of him the moment he set the weapon aside. His body hurt, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Shiro moved towards the red Paladin, concern creasing his face once more.   
“Let’s get you something to eat.” Shiro suggested, although it sounded more like a command. Lance caught Keith’s slight paling.   
“… I’m not hungry.” Keith grumbled after a long moment. Shiro frowned, but he didn’t argue. He moved closer to Keith, putting an arm over his shoulder. Keith leaned his weight into the older teen. Lance felt a twinge in the pit of his stomach at how easily the two seemed to fit together. Shiro looked at the top of Keith’s head, taking in the various cuts and clumps of hair covering the teen’s scalp.   
“… I know you said you didn’t want to go in the healing pods… But…” Shiro trailed off as Keith tensed. “Keith, please? It’ll make you feel better, and you won’t even be awake for it…” That didn’t help. Lance could see it in Keith’s eyes, he had a fear of being unconscious around others… Well, anyone expect Lance, if last night had been any indicator.   
“I’ll stay the whole time.” Lance spoke out of nowhere, and both the other Paladin’s stared at him. Shiro’s expression softened as he looked at Lance, and a small smile toyed on his lips. Keith relaxed slightly, looking at his feet. Lance was familiar, and honest, amongst other things. Keith felt safe around him. He’d never hide anything from any of them, and that comforted the half-Galra.   
“Only for a little bit…” Keith grumbled, agreeing in his own way. Once he was in the pod, they could put him for however they wanted, and Keith knew it. He was relying on Lance’s honor. “Just enough to help my ribs.” Shiro and Lance exchanged a look, but Shiro nodded nonetheless.   
“Alright, fine.” Keith puffed his purple cheeks out before stalking past them. Lance could see the other teen’s shoulders shaking slightly, and he knew this was terrifying. It was a new sort of captivity. They followed, watching Keith carefully. 

They got Keith in a pod with no issues- at least none that Shiro noticed- and set it for only a few hours, just enough to take the edge off his injuries. Shiro hated it, but Lance insisted they honor Keith’s request. So, in the end, they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason this chapter was awkward for me to write so I hope it wasn't an awkward read ;v;


	15. Chapter 15

Two days passed without incident after they got Keith in the pod. Allura still refused to be near the Paladin, and Keith didn’t seem to mind staying away from the Princess. Lance was hesitant to leave Keith alone. At first, it seemed like Keith wanted to be with everyone more than he ever had before, especially Lance. But then, on the third day after he’d been healed, Keith locked himself away, and refused to let anyone in.   
Lance didn’t know why, and it hurt. He knew Keith was a closed off person, but he couldn’t figure out what had happened to set him back. Lance had to beg Keith to eat, leaving his meals outside his door. Keith wouldn’t even open the door to get food unless nobody was around.   
Pidge even tried to slip a camera in once, to check on Keith, but he hadn’t even accepted that meal. He probably knew. Pidge was distraught. She and Hunk spent most of their days worrying about Keith, and trying to come up with ways to get him out of his room.   
Shiro ended up being the first to get through to Keith. Which means this: Shiro overrode the lock on Keith’s door and broke in, yelling at the younger teen to let him in. (Of course, yelling to be let in doesn’t work so great when you’re already in, but nobody tell Shiro that.) When Shiro stopped yelling, he noticed two things were off. One: the room was unusually clean, as if nobody had been there for days (Keith could get a place dirty in a manner of minutes), and two: the room’s owner was nowhere to be seen.   
“… Keith…?” Shiro reached for the dagger at his hip, flipping on the lights in the room. He frowned, looking around. Nobody under the table, or under the bed. Nobody in the closet. That left the bathroom, but it was alarmingly quiet. Sighing, the Black Paladin shoved against the door, only to find it was locked. “Keith?” He called through the door, loudly. It was barely audible, but there was a hiss in reply. “Keith, it’s me, Shiro. Let me in.” The hiss was louder this time, followed by the sound of claws clicking on tile. “Come on bud, open up. It’s just me.” Shiro took a step back, palming his knife. Hopefully Keith would open that door, but Shiro wasn’t taking chances. The door whooshed open and… There was no one there.   
Shiro glanced up, shifting his weight back as a knife skimmed by his nose. He barely had recovery time when a body slammed against him, and the two figures fell, grappling for the upper hand. Shiro recognized Keith’s movements, and the new thinness of the teen’s body, and he bit his lip. He didn’t want to hurt Keith, but… Shiro thrust his shoulder under Keith’s ribs, rolling to pin an out-of-breath Keith under him, straddling the Galra’s hips, his arms pinned to his side.   
“Keith! Stop, it’s me!” Shiro panted, grabbing Keith’s face between his palms. The younger teen stared up at him, eyes wide and glazed over in fear. His body had given up the fight, and he lay there trembling. “Keith, buddy, come on, it’s just me, Shiro.” The older man tried to keep his voice low, running a thumb over one of Keith’s Galra ears, barely holding his composure together.   
It took several agonizingly long moments for Keith to come back to himself, but eventually his eyes cleared and he blinked up at Shiro. Relief flooded through the older teen, and he smiled slightly.   
“Hey bud.” Keith looked away, emotions flickering across his face.   
“… Hi…” He replied, pulling his hands free from Shiro’s pin. The other Paladin got the message and got off, rising to his feet. He reached down, offering Keith help. The half-Galra took his hand, pulling himself up. It had been four days since he’d been out of his room. And it didn’t take long for Shiro to realize why.   
“Um, Keith…? What is that…?” Shiro tilted his head to the side, eyes trailing over the long, sleek tail swishing against the ground. Keith’s purple face turned deeper purple, a sign he was blushing. He reached around and grabbed the tail, pulling it around his hip and holding it against his chest.   
“I… Well… I guess Galra have tails…” Keith replied lamely, refusing to meet Shiro’s gaze.   
“Is that why you’re hiding away?” Shiro watched the way Keith held his tail against his chest, protectively, like he didn’t want anyone to see it. The Red Paladin nodded, still not looking at him. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Keith… Nobody will care…”   
“Allura will.” His voice dripped with venom. Shiro hadn’t heard him sound like that since he’d first met him. It shocked him into silence, staring at the younger teen.   
“Keith…” Shiro started, collecting his thoughts.   
“Don’t.” The teen cut him off, turning away from the other Paladin. “Just, don’t Shiro.” His tail unwrapped from his hip, swishing back to the floor, the tip twitching. Keith was irritated. It made sense, since he’d had a flash back, and now they were talking about unpleasant things. Shiro sighed, studying Keith. It seemed like his hair was growing back, slowly but surely. Shiro took a couple steps closer to Keith, chewing on the inside of his cheek.  
“Pidge is really worried about you.” Shiro hadn’t meant to say that, but it slipped out nonetheless. “So is Hunk. Although they’re nothing compared to Lance. He’s completely beside himself.” Keith made a small noise, his ears twitching. His tail curled around his feet. “Keith, buddy, come on, do you really think any of them are going to care? Forget Allura, forget Coran, just think about your friends!” Keith hunched his shoulders against Shiro’s words, his ears dropping in something akin to shame. Shiro reached out and put a hand on Keith’s shoulder, gently, so as not to scare the younger Paladin. Keith didn’t flinch away from the contact. “Bud, we want to help you, but we can’t if you shut yourself away.”   
“… I know.” Keith was loath to admit it, but he had been acting pretty ridiculous. Pidge would, of course, be fascinated with his tail; he could picture her face now, and he sighed. Hunk probably wouldn’t be quite as joyful about it, but he was still a friend… And Lance. Lance would probably tease him. As much as Keith acted like he hated Lance’s teasing, it was the purest form of friendship he’d ever known, and he would kill to keep that friendship there.   
“How about this, we’ll go to the training hall, and have Pidge, Hunk, and Lance meet us there? That way if anyone says anything, you can hit them?” Shiro peered at Keith’s face, momentarily disconcerted by the yellow eyes. Keith rumbled a slight laugh, blinking at his mentor.   
“Alright.” He agreed, releasing the tension from his shoulders. Anxiety gnawed at his belly, but he focused instead on Shiro’s hand on his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like my writing style is all over the place lmao   
> Also I should make like legit notes about these chapters probably.   
> Um. Okay. Well, for starters: I'm gonna try to update every Saturday until I finish this. A schedule should help me push through whatever block I get.   
> That being said I have a job and a summer internship, so I can't guarantee I'll always be on time. But I'll do my best.  
> Okay, so I only remember one Galra with a tail but I don't care, cause tails are the shit. So Keith gets a tail. Because this poor kid needs to be more miserable lmfao someone take him away from me.


	16. Chapter 16

“I was finally cooking something good!” Hunk whined, strutting into the training hall. Pidge shadowed him, chewing on her lip. She was still trying to come up with a way to drag Keith out. Shiro stood center of the hall, feet shoulder width apart, arms behind his back. He wasn’t facing the door, instead watching a reading on the monitors. His eyebrow was raised. Lance still wasn’t there. He’d get the message eventually, Shiro figured.  
“Shiro, I need to be do something else, not training.” Pidge sounded more curious than mad. Shiro rarely called them all together, and when he did, he gave an explanation. But not this time.  
“You’re not the one training.” Shiro replied, not looking from the screen. Curiosity got the better of them, and Pidge and Hunk crowded around Shiro. The monitor showed stats and live readings from one of the private training rooms. A live video feed showed the action of the room.  
“Wait…” Pidge blinked at the screen, watching the purple blur whipping around, destroying the bots. “Is that…?”  
“Keith?” Hunk finished for her. Shiro nodded.  
“How’d you get him out?” Pidge’s voice was bright. She bounced on her toes, watching the feed eagerly.  
“I broke in and made him come out.” Shiro was amused with her reaction. Hunk was scrutinizing the video, his eyebrows pulled down in concentration.  
“What’s that?” Hunk asked, pointing to the video as Keith finally stopped whirling around. The next level was starting, so Keith was collecting himself. His tail whipped around him, showing off how much he really needed this. Shiro didn’t respond. Instead, he tapped a button, and Keith looked over his shoulder at the camera, his yellow eyes irritated.  
Nonetheless, he huffed, crossing to the setting panel, and shutting down the simulator. The feed went black, and Shiro started across the hall. The door slid open and Keith padded out. Pidge launched at him, nearly knocking him over as she hugged him.  
“Don’t ever do that again!” Pidge chastised him, squeezing him. Keith patted the top of her head, an action only he was allowed to do.  
“Do what? Train?” Keith knew what she was talking about, but humor seemed the better option than an empty promise. They both knew Keith was likely to lock himself away again, that’s just who he was. Pidge released him from the hug, and punched his arm instead, pouting at him. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Next time I’ll let you slip the video camera in my room, okay?” She punched him again, but smiled and nodded.  
“So, what’s up with the tail?” Hunk asked, raising an eyebrow. He rubbed his chin, studying it as it swished around Keith’s legs. Keith flushed a dark purple, resisting the urge to grab it and hide it from view.  
“No idea.” He admitted, watching it flick Pidge’s hip. She reached out, gently catching it in her hand. It slipped through her fingers, and her eyes lit up. Scientist Pidge was back in action.  
“Is that a Galra thing? Any more weird things gonna happen to you, just so I can prepare myself?” Hunk wasn’t saying it to be mean, and Keith had to remind himself of that. He took a deep breath.  
“I guess it is. I don’t really know. One morning it was just. There.” Keith shrugged, helplessly.  
“And… You locked yourself away cause of that…?” Hunk put his hands on his hips, giving Keith a look. The corners of Keith’s lips turned up.  
“Pretty stupid, huh?” Hunk opened his mouth to agree when Lance burst in.  
“I’M LATE!” He hollered, before slamming to a halt as he saw Keith. His mouth formed an O, and he glanced between all four of them. Keith tilted his head to the side, looking amused.  
“Maybe you shouldn’t take so many naps then, Lance.” Pidge grinned, grabbing Keith’s tail again, enjoying the way it slid from her grasp.  
“Excuse you.” Lance sounded wholly offended. His gaze took in all of Keith, the way he shifted his weight uncertainly, the way his ears twitched, the way the tail swished around his and Pidge’s legs. The way the tail was a tail. Keith watched Pidge catching his tail, eyebrow raised. Shiro and Hunk stood to the side, side by side, watching.  
Lance finally made his legs move, eyes focused on the tail.  
“Bro, you’re a fucking cat.” That was not what he had meant to say. Pidge hooted with laughter then, Shiro snorted, hiding his mouth behind his hand, and Hunk groaned, rolling his eyes. Keith looked startled, blinking at Lance before breaking into a toothy grin.  
“Better than a dog.” He replied, remembering something Lance had said shortly after they’d recovered him. Lance’s cheeks were red with embarrassment, but he grinned.  
“Better than a dog.” He agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so for starters, I'm a day late (it's 11 pm on Sunday the 16th) for posting this, but in my defense, my internet decided to pull a Shiro and vanish.  
> Two) I really think my characterization sucks lmao but that might just be me being super self conscious  
> Three) I don't have anyone editing my writing, so I'm sorry for typos. I was rereading parts I've already posted and noticing all my typos and crying a little on the inside (okay maybe a lot on the inside and a little on the outside)  
> Four) It's my birthday on Friday and I'm just like wait no can I stop gaining years that would be great I feel old  
> Five) I think that's everything! Thanks for reading, hope y'all are enjoying it, and continue to keep up with me and these updates~ I'm not the best with responding to messages/comments but I've been trying. Just know I appreciate you and your support, whether it's a "kudo" or a comment, If y'all ever notice anything enormously wrong, please let me know so I can change it!  
> Till next week then!! <3


	17. Chapter 17

Keith didn’t show for dinner that night. It sent a spike of worry through Lance. Why would he not come to dinner after they’d had such a good day? They’d spent close to 6 hours in the training hall, joking and laughing. Even Keith had been enjoying himself. Well, mostly. Pidge had managed to trod on his tail more than a couple times, and he wasn’t much a fan of that one. Despite that, Lance had never seen Keith smile as much as he had in the 6 hours they were together. Hunk had been warry of Keith and his tail for a short while, especially after Shiro told them about the state he’d found him in.   
Nonetheless, the Yellow Paladin had loosened up and the five of them had spent the time being what Allura insisted they should be: a family.   
But then Coran had called them all up to deck, and Keith had vanished. Shiro said it was because Keith wasn’t comfortable around Allura yet, but he’d slip into the dining hall at dinner time. And yet, he wasn’t there. Even Shiro’s brow was creased in worry.   
“So, Pidge, did you manage to figure out that communicator to Earth you were making?” Allura asked, her voice annoyingly loud in the silence of the hall. All the Paladins felt Keith’s absence like an open wound, especially after their time together earlier.   
“Huh? Oh, no. But I think I made it within 5 systems of our home, so I should be able to get it soon!” Lance straightened, suddenly interested in Pidge’s science experiments.   
“Wait, what are you working on Pidge?” He leaned forward, eager. If he could just talk to his family… Lance missed them so much. He wondered sometimes, late at night when he couldn’t get to sleep, if they thought he was dead, and how they were coping. He wondered if they’d like the other Paladins. If they’d like Keith. And that was always where he stopped that line of thought.   
“I wasn’t gonna tell you till I finished… I’m working on a way to contact home.” Pidge poked her mush with her spoon, and Hunk choked on his. Coran slapped Hunk on the back, trying to help him to not die.   
“You mean… The Garrison, or…?”   
“Our families. The Garrison would probably just scream at us.” Pidge shrugged, twirling her spoon between her fingers. It was a good thing it was clean, or it would probably have flung mush all over Lance’s eager face.   
“Pidge!! You’re a genius!! When will you have it done?!” Lance clawed at his napkin, nervous energy flittering through his stomach. Talk to his family? Yes please. Pidge brightened at the praise, but a shadow passed over her face at the question.   
“I’m not sure. I’m close though. Once I make my test call, you can be the first to use it, Lance.” She promised, smiling crookedly at him. Shiro glanced towards the door, his thoughts elsewhere.   
And so, they continued to chat, mostly about life back on Earth. Allura and Coran asked questions when they could, but Shiro hovered right outside the conversation. The only person who mattered to him anymore was Keith- all the others would have long since have moved on- and that particular teen was not to be found.   
After dinner, Shiro set off to find the Red Paladin. He hadn’t made it far when the other Paladin’s caught up, expressing their own concern. Lance didn’t say much, but his expression spoke volumes.   
“Maybe he’s in his Lion? I know that’s where I like to go, when I’m thinking.” Pidge suggested, leading them towards the Red Lion’s wing. They murmured conversation, but none of them really wanted to talk. Mostly, they wanted to announce themselves to Keith.   
“Why are you guys so loud?” Keith’s complaint greeted them as the door to the wing slid open. Pidge snorted, rolling her eyes.   
“Just to annoy you. Is it working?” She asked, craning her neck to eye Keith, sitting on Red’s nose.   
“Since day one.” Keith’s ears twitched, and his eyes glimmered in good humor. Lance smirked, cocking his hip out.   
“Well, at least now your sullen silences are actually noticed!” Lance called up, and Hunk roared a laugh, trying to cover it with a cough. Keith snorted, pushing himself to his feet. Red lowered her head, allowing Keith to hop off. His tail swished as he studied the other Paladins.   
“We missed you at dinner Keith.” Shiro said, breaking the silence and moving forward, towards the Galra. “All of us were talking about life back on Earth. You would have had fun.” Keith’s ears flicked back, and he tapped his claws against his thigh.   
“Allura was there.” Lance and Shiro exchanged a glance. Hunk looked grim, and Pidge looked at her feet.   
“Ya, but she wouldn’t have said anything.” Lance sauntered forward, throwing an arm over Keith’s shoulder. “Besides, we’d play back up to you if she did.” Keith raised an eyebrow. Lance still felt weird, staring into a pair of yellow eyes and knowing they belonged to one of his best friends. Keith shrugged his arm off his shoulder, taking a step away. His tail swished, gently running the length of Lance’s forearm.   
“The more you hide out, the longer it’s gonna take for her to get used to you, so you’d be better off just sticking it to her, Keith. You’re Galra, but who cares? You’re still the kid who got kicked out of the Garrison and went hunting for a space lion.” Shiro’s eyes flashed dangerously. He hadn’t yet heard about Keith being kicked out of the Garrison. Keith refused to meet his gaze.   
“She’s the one in charge of the Lions, if she says I can’t pilot one, I can’t.” Keith replied weakly.   
“Says who?” Lance demanded, pointing at Red. “Your Lion doesn’t seem to care what Allura says, and neither should you! None of us care, so what Allura says doesn’t matter. The old Keith wouldn’t just roll over and take it. Be like that.” Lance poked Keith’s ear, causing it to twitch in annoyance.   
“Shut up.” Keith grumbled, swatting Lance’s hand away. Lance caught Keith’s wrist, eyeing his claws.   
“You need a manicure dude! Your nail’s looks awful!” Keith flushed a deeper purple, raising his eyebrow at Lance. Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro all exchanged a glance. Pidge snickered, sliding over to eye Keith’s nails.   
“I’m not sure you can really manicure-up claws…?” Pidge said. Keith puffed his cheeks out and jerked his hand away.   
“Who cares?” Keith asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. Shiro stepped forward then, shooing Lance and Pidge away. He led Keith a few steps away, shooting a look at the other Paladins. They got the message, and moved to busy themselves.   
“Keith, I know Allura is a little… Harsh. But you’re tougher than her. I’m not saying you have to fight with her, but just.. Ignore her. She’ll get over it.” Keith opened his mouth to argue with Shiro, but he plowed on, “Remember when I first met you? How people used to treat you? And you just toughed it out and made them accept you. Do that now.”   
“But it’s not the same. The Galra killed her family and people, those people you’re talking about just didn’t trust the dirty homeless kid.” Keith frowned, his ears flat on his head, tail twitching in aggravation.   
“Either way, they’re making an assumption about your appearance. Don’t let it get to you, just tough it out. I’m going to keep working on getting her to chill out.” Shiro put a hand on Keith’s head, between his large ears. Keith looked away from Shiro, sighing.   
“Alright, fine.” He agreed, shaking Shiro’s hand off. “Let’s just get back to them, before Pidge breaks anything in here.” No sooner were the words out than a small explosion sounded from around Red’s form.   
“I’m okay!” Pidge shouted.   
“I’m not!” Lance responded, his voice cracking over the words. Shiro and Keith made their way around, and Shiro rubbed his forehead at the sight. Lance had black scorch marks all over his front, and his hair stood up at all ends, looking ridiculous. His face was coated in soot. Keith bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Pidge was losing that fight, her cheeks inflating as she tried to keep from bursting out. Hunk, however, was openly cackling, sitting on the ground. He gripped his sides, howling at Lance’s misfortune.   
“This is gonna take forever to wash off!” Lance whined, looking at his shirt.   
“I’m sorry Lance.” Pidge said, finally cracking and exploding with laughter. Lance pouted before he noticed Keith and Shiro there.   
“Keith, why do you have something like that in here?!” Keith just shrugged, a hiss of a laugh escaping his lips. Shiro sighed, putting his hands on his hips.   
“Why were you messing with it?” Shiro asked, eyeing the metal canister that had exploded.   
“It was Pidge! She did it!” He pointed at her, and she howled with laughter. Keith started laughing loudly then, and Shiro and Lance blinked at him. Slowly, the two Paladin’s faces broke into smiles, Shiro’s small and proud, Lance’s huge and excited. Keith was remembering how he fit into their messed up little family, and nothing could make Shiro or Lance feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus fuck I'm late again I am so sorry. My friends from out of State drove up on Friday and stayed till Sunday, and then I had to work and basically I fucked up and am late lmao.


	18. Chapter 18

Explosions were never fun to wake up to, especially when the Paladins had gone to bed only an hour ago. The castle rocked as the Galra ship blasted its shield, sending anyone walking tumbling down the hall. Unfortunately, that was all five Paladins. Thankfully, they’d all gotten very good at getting ready quick, and they burst into the control room in their armor. Coran had modified Keith’s armor to account for his tail, something Keith was still shy about.   
“Paladins! It’s a small group of Galra forces, they should be easy to take down!” Allura yelled over her shoulder, another shot rocking the castle. Shiro grabbed his chair, grinding his teeth.   
“Alright, everyone, to your Lions!” As soon as the castle righted itself, they broke to get to their lions. Except Keith. Allura stopped him, glowering.   
“Not you. You’re sitting this one out.”   
“What?! I can’t, they can’t form Voltron without me!” Keith growled, his fangs gleaming threatening as a shot exploded outside the room.   
“I still don’t trust you!” Allura replied, hands on her hips. Coran fidgeted nervously behind her shoulder. Keith looked at him, at a loss for words. “Sit down and stay silent!” She barked, turning back to the controls. The Red Paladin did as he was told, watching as the other Lions burst from the castle, assaulting the ships. He kept his helmet off, watching the feeds from the lions Allura always watched.   
“-Eith!!” Shiro’s connection staticed to life. “Keith, come on, we need you!” Keith stood, intending to answer Shiro, but Allura cut him a glare, her hand dancing over the dagger at her hip. When had they all started carrying daggers? Keith wondered, getting off track for a moment.   
“Keith won’t be joining you! You can do this, Paladins. They’re lightly armored crafts, not meant for fighting.” Allura’s voice was sharp, cutting through to all the Paladin’s headsets.   
“Wait, why not? Is he okay?” Pidge was genuinely concerned, craning her neck to try to see around Allura in the small video feed.   
“Oh, come on! Keith, get in your lion!” Lance screamed, his lion executing a remarkable barrel roll, getting two ships to shoot each other. Two down, 14 more to go.   
“He will not be joining!” Allura snapped again, making sure Keith wasn’t in her video feed. The Red Paladin seethed with anger, his hands curling into fists, his claws biting into his palms. Shiro was about to speak, when a high-pitched screech cut through all communications, and a portal opened, an armored ship and fighting entourage appearing. Allura paled slightly, this was not a good sign. Keith ground his teeth, staring at the thing.   
“Ummm… What is that…?” Hunk knew what it was, they all did. It was a ship like the one who had held Keith. A prison ship. Keith scooped up his helmet, fitting it over his ears.   
“Hang on guys, I’ll be right there.” He spoke, his tail lashing angrily. Allura spun towards him, opening her mouth. He disabled his communicator for a moment. “Don’t even start! They NEED me out there, and I’m not going to let your stupid little prejudice kill us all! Get over yourself, Princess!” Keith snarled, turning on his heel and running out of the room, to get to his lion. Allura fumed, glaring after him. 

The prisoner craft was bearing down on Pidge and the Green Lion, and the attack ships weren’t giving her anywhere to flee to. She was panicking.   
“PIDGE!” Lance screamed, shooting at the attack ships. There were too many. They were going to lose another of their own. Shiro was trying to take ships down, Lance alongside him, but there were too many, and they were too fast.   
“Guys! Help!!” Pidge sounded small and afraid. Of course, she was. Both small, and afraid. But none of them had ever heard her sound it, it set Lance’s teeth on edge.   
And then a red blur shot by, straight through six attack ships, and barreling into Pidge. The ships blew behind the blur, and the impact shot the Green Lion into another bunch of ships, destroying them on impact.   
The Red Lion crouched where Green had been moments before, a sword out of the side of Red’s mouth. They could hear a growl coming from the lion, but whether it was the ship or Keith, nobody knew.   
“Keith!!” It was hard to say who was loudest, since they all started yelling at once. Keith didn’t reply, instead his lion pounced, straight into a cluster of ships, his speed beating them out. The rest focused on the prison ship, as Keith picked off all the fighters.   
“The goal is to break it down enough, and then we board, alright?!” Shiro planned over the intercom, breaking it down for them. “We’ll see if we can save anyone, that’s number one priority!”   
“And number two is killing the Galra.” Keith snarled as soon as Shiro finished speaking. He sounded bloodthirsty. Shiro had a moment of doubt, wondering if Allura was right about him. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts. Silence came from all the other lines. Nobody had ever heard the Red Paladin like this before, they were shocked.   
“Keith.” Shiro reprimanded, suppressing a sigh. It wouldn’t do any good to get mad now. “Calm down. Hunk, Pidge, you two stick together, Lance, you’re with Keith and I.”   
“Roger.” Pidge replied, ramming her lion into Hunk’s. Lance grunted in acknowledgement, trying to get his brain unfried. The panic over loosing Pidge had stopped his brain, and he was fighting that. Keith fumed silently in his lion, obviously not happy with this arrangement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I'm gonna get better at updating and post regularly every Saturday!   
> Narrator: She, in fact, did not get better at updating or posting regularly.
> 
> Lmao sorry to anyone who's actually following this for the random timing on updates. My job has me working like almost every day, and if I'm not working I'm at my internship. Basically things are busy and I'm Suffering(TM)   
> I'm trying to save up money for a trip in September, and my horse needs a new saddle, so I'm thinking about opening up writing commissions (mostly short stories and stuff probably) to try to help save up. Would anybody be interested in that?


	19. Chapter 19

When they finally got on board, Lance stuck as close to Keith as possible. He could feel the anxiety radiating off the other teen. He almost suggested Keith go back to the castle. Almost. The hostility that had dripped off his words when he told them to kill Galra had stopped Lance from saying anything. That venom directed at him would hurt. He didn’t want that.   
“Stop hovering.” Keith grumbled, poking his head around a corner.   
“I’ll stop hovering when you chill out.” Lance bit back, annoyed. Why didn’t Keith see that he just worried about him? Because he cared about him? Okay, maybe Lance didn’t want Keith to see that second part, but still! Keith was such a lone gun-slinger, it was annoying. Especially since he didn’t even use a gun!   
“I am chill. Perfectly fine.” Lance scuffed his boot on the ground, and Keith jumped, whipping around with his Bayard out, blade extended.   
“Uh-huh, chill.” Lance rolled his eyes, and Keith growled, stashing his weapon away again.   
“You did that on purpose, it doesn’t count for shit.” The hot-head said, rounding the corner and continuing on. Lance padded after him.   
“Ya well you still jumped, so my argument is valid. You’re not chill.” Keith scoffed, opening his mouth to reply, when there was the sound of scales scraping against a wall. They both froze, but Lance could feel the fear oozing off Keith.   
“Ahhhh, Little Galra Booooyyyyyy~” Lance couldn’t see Keith’s face or ears, but he saw the flinch, and the way his hands started to tremble. Lance strained his eyes, the corridor dark. Hunk had managed to knock out the power on the ship. “You came back! I’m so excited, I had much more fun planned for us~” Whoever owned that voice was begging to get punched, and Lance was more than happy to oblige. Now just to find who was speaking. “And you brought a friend to help ussssssss!” Lance’s blood ran cold.   
“Lance, run.” Keith hissed, clenching his hands into fists.   
“I’m not leaving you.” Lance replied, getting his own bayard out, his gun heavy in his hands. He knew this was the man who had tortured Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short but CLIFFHANGER YAY.  
> Two weeks in a row, yay!!   
> Also, guys, I think I'm going to be opening up writing commissions. I'm in desperate need of money, and I have no extra way to earn it. So I'm offering short stories, at $15/hr for writing time, for just about anything you could want aside from smut. If I don't know the characters, I'll ask you to give me a run down of the personalities I'm dealing with here, and if you have a particular scene in mind, I'll send you a preview so you can give me pointers. Email me at crowqueen13@gmail.com if y'all are interested.


	20. Chapter 20

It felt like he’d eaten molten lead. His body was heavy and burning all at once. Keith was filled with rage and dread, and he wanted more than anything to kill that lizard. But Lance. If he failed to take the lizard out, he’d get Lance, and that would destroy Keith more than anything. And of course, the Blue Paladin had such a thick skull that he wouldn’t listen.   
“Overcome with joy, are you, Little Galra Boy?” The doctor’s voice grated against Keith’s ears, and he was grateful for the helmet, keeping them from view. Now all he needed to do was get his hands to stop shaking. His tail was hidden from view, thanks to Coran’s adjustments to his armor. Keith growled, his Bayard in hand, the sword glinting wickedly when a light shone through a window. “Is that a no? Oh, now, now. You know you love what we did for you.” Keith barely held back a flinch. Lance was eyeing him, waiting for a cue of some sort. The sound of scales over metal echoed through the hall as the lizard moved closer.   
“Lance, please run.” Keith hissed, stepping to block Lance from the hall. If they hadn’t been in that situation, Lance would have noticed Keith saying please, for the first time ever, but things were a little too tense for that.   
“Not a chance, buddy.” Lance replied, his voice far more confident than he felt.   
“Little Galra Boy and his Little Human Friend.” The voice was alarmingly close. Keith flinched, and Lance inched closer to him. “Zarkon will be so pleased to see you again. He was so upset you left him, after all, he gave you a wonderful offer, if you’ll recall~” Alarm flashed through Lance. So, Keith did have contact with the Emperor. That was not good… Thankfully, both their communicators were off, so Allura couldn’t hear this.  
“And if you’ll remember, I refused him.” Keith spat. His voice sounded unnatural, and Lance knew they needed to get out of here. This fight would not end well, for two reasons. One) their enemy was more powerful than them, and two) Keith wouldn’t be able to fight like this. Lance turned his com link on, exclusively to Shiro’s.   
Lance? What’s wrong? Shiro had chosen to stay out in his lion, keeping an eye on Pidge and Hunk, but available to help Keith and Lance at a moment’s notice.   
“I think we need to leave.” Lance’s voice was hushed, as much to Keith as it was to Shiro. Keith turned a fraction of an inch towards Lance, the only indication he’d heard the other teen.   
Understood. Shiro’s voice was stony.   
“Well, Little Galra Boy thinks he has a spine!” The doctor cheered, cackling. “I wonder how long that will last with your… Friend… In my hands.” Keith stiffened. The way Z said friend reached to his core and sucker punched him. He’d almost forgotten the lizard had spent most of his captivity poking around his thoughts.   
Lance grabbed Keith’s wrist and pulled him back, right as Shiro’s Lion plowed into the ship, ripping open the hall where the Paladins had been standing. The Lion roared, and Keith heard the doctor scrambling away, hissing in rage. Keith turned his link on, ready to fight Shiro.   
Get in. Shiro ordered, his voice leaving no room for arguments. Even if he’d wanted to, Keith couldn’t do much with Lance dragging him towards the Lion’s open jaws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit okay so this is super late lmao I hate myself   
> I've been working like every fucking day, and there was a bunch of drama at work, and I'm scared of one of my coworkers now, and basically life is a mess and a half. Anyways, here's this, hope y'all enjoy! <3


	21. Chapter 21

“Why did you do that?!” Keith’s voice was tight with rage. Shiro was jetting them away from the ship as fast as the giant Black Lion could fly them. Lance leaned against the wall by the door, watching Keith fuming.   
“Because, you two were in danger.” Shiro sounded calm, but his heart was racing. The bit of the confrontation he’d heard alarmed him.   
“I could have handled it.” Keith snarled, punching the wall. Shiro felt his Lion’s disapproval.   
“Keith. Sit down.” Shiro ordered, and Keith did. He wasn’t happy about it, but he knew that tone. There’d be no arguing with him. “My com link is off. We’re not turning it on or landing until you tell me what happened, and who that thing was.” He didn’t have to look at Keith to know he was preparing his walls. He was always good at keeping people out.   
“He called you Little Galra Boy.” Lance spoke up. He had seen how Keith responded to that name, and he hoped it would get the Red Paladin to talk. Lance could feel Keith simmering with rage.   
“Yes, he did.” He spat, his gloved hands curling into fists. He didn’t elaborate.   
“And he said something about an offer from Zarkon.” The Lion rocked as Shiro stiffened at the controls, nearly knocking them out of the sky.   
“He what?” Now it was Shiro’s turn to hiss. Keith looked out the window, grinding his teeth together. “Keith, talk.” It was an order. But this time, Keith was ignoring it. He wished he hadn’t frozen at the sound of the doctor’s voice. If he had just killed him straight away, he wouldn’t have to explain anything. The Lion jerked to a halt, spinning slightly at the sudden movement. It nearly threw Keith out of his seat, and he hissed, his ears flat against his skull. Lance had barely managed to catch himself on the doorframe. “Keith.” Shiro’s voice was tense, and there was a warning clear as day. Lance had never heard that tone, and it sunk into his skin, his anxiety responding in kind. It wasn’t even directed at him, and still he was tempted to spill everything to Shiro. Except the things he had to say had nothing to do with the current situation.   
“What?” Keith growled, his respect for Shiro at war with his desire to bury his torture inside him. They didn’t need to know everything, and what did it matter anyways? He’d refused Zarkon, that should mean more than anything else.   
“What’s this about an offer from Zarkon?” His dashboard lit up as Pidge and Allura both tried to get through his com link. All three in the Black Lion had their coms turned off, and all the others knew was the Lion had stopped. It was enough of a cause for concern, and Allura probably would blame Keith. And of course, she’d be right, since it was mostly Keith’s fault.   
“It’s nothing.” Keith grunted, refusing to look at Shiro. He knew his mentor would see everything clear as day on his face. Shiro had always been able to look right through Keith. Shiro turned his chair completely to face the Galra, his fists tight on the armrests.   
“I’m not going to ask again: what is this about an offer from Zarkon?” Lance felt sorry for Keith, especially when he saw him flinch. Shiro’s voice was cold and harsh, and there was more than a hint of suspicion in it. Keith finally looked at his mentor, emotions battling across his face.   
“He gave me the chance to join him.” The words clawed at his throat, and his yellow eyes flashed in pain, a memory crowding forward. He shook his head, trying to dislodge it. Shiro didn’t move, but something passed over his features. Lance’s shoulders tensed, and he held his breath, waiting for Keith to elaborate. “I told him I would personally see to his death.” The fight seemed to drain right out of Keith, and his shoulders crumpled ever so slightly. Shiro arched an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitching.   
“Why didn’t you just tell us?” Lance could still hear the underlying suspicion in Shiro’s voice, and he knew Keith could too. Keith looked at his hands, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Lance buzzed with nervous energy, and a message from Pidge popped up on the Lion’s main screen. Shiro ignored it. Both the message and Lance. His gaze was focused intently on Keith. “Keith.” He was quickly losing patience. “Lance, would you give us a minute?” Shiro directed his sharp gaze to Lance, arching an eyebrow. Lance jumped slightly at the sudden change of focus, but nodded and scurried for the door, closing it behind him. He’d link to Pidge and give her a rundown of their general situation, and hopefully Shiro and Keith would get something worked out there. Lance couldn’t help the sudden pang of… What was that? Jealousy? Why would he be jealous?! Just because Keith liked and trusted Shiro more than him… Lance took a deep breath, shaking his head. No, he just needed to focus on talking to Pidge now. The rest wasn’t important. 

Shiro watched the door seal shut behind the Blue Paladin. After Lance left, Shiro’s shoulders drooped and he sighed, rubbing his face.   
“Keith, what happened?” Shiro peered at the younger teen who was worrying at his lower lip with his teeth. “I get it’s not easy to talk about… That, but we’re your friends, and we want to help, but we can’t if you don’t let us in.” Shiro stretched an arm out, putting his hand on Keith’s human (Galra? Living?) knee. Keith tried not to flinch away.   
“I know, Shiro. I know.” He replied, ducking his head so Shiro couldn’t see his face. His ears, though, were a tell-tale sign. They were quivering, pressed forward against his skull. Shiro had to keep himself from looking for Keith’s tail- it was still tucked away in his armor after all.   
“Keith…” Shiro said, trying to think of things to say. He was at a loss, nothing he said seemed to be getting through to the other teen.   
“I considered it.” Keith finally hissed out, his voice filled with shame and a burning anger.  
“Considered what?” Shiro knew what the half-Galra was saying, but he didn’t want to believe it. Keith? Considered joining the Galra? Not likely, and if he had it must have been under heavy torture. A shudder passed through Keith and he launched himself out of the chair, effectively dislodging Shiro’s hand from his knee. Shiro just watched sadly, sighing lightly. “Keith, please just talk to me.” Keith was pacing, trying to figure out how to tell him.   
“I…” He started, but stopped again, ears twitching. His gaze was focused out of the windows, and Shiro could see the hostility and anxiety building in him. Shiro rose, crossing to Keith. He put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing despite the other Paladin’s flinch.   
“You’re safe, I promise, none of us are going to let them so much as see you ever again. We’re going to bring Zarkon down, and we’ll help the entire universe.” Keith didn’t so much as look at him, just continued staring out the window. Shiro would have wondered if Keith just hadn’t heard him, but for the tilt of his right ear, clearly listening to Shiro. “Whatever he had done to you, none of us are letting it happen ever again. Whatever he said to you is a lie. You were in a tough spot, nobody can fault you for thinking about the one thing that would end it.”   
“You don’t get it.” Keith’s voice was raw, and Shiro felt his heart sink.   
“Then explain it to me.”   
“He didn’t threaten me.” Shiro frowned in confusion, studying the side of Keith’s face. The ears and tail made it harder for him to hide his feelings, but his face… His face was even harder to read than it had been before.   
“Then what?” Keith tried to duck away from Shiro’s hand, but he held fast. “Keith, you can’t keep running from this. You’re going to have to tell us eventually, or Allura’s mistrust might win out.” He barely managed to get an arm up in time to deflect Keith’s punch. The half-Galra hissed, his ears flat, sharp teeth flashing in the light from the control panel.   
“If you were really my friends it wouldn’t matter.” He argued, trying once more to get out of Shiro’s grip. Shiro tightened his hold, not enjoying it when Keith flinched from how tight it was.   
“I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re trying to run away from something, and this time, I’m not going to let you. You need to face this head on, and deal with it. Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and I want to help, but we can’t, if you don’t let us.” Shiro could feel his temper rising. That was exactly what they didn’t need, two fiery tempers letting lose at the same time, in a small control room of a deadly weapon. “What did Zarkon do?” Keith flinched at the name, and Shiro let him pull his shoulder away from his grip. Keith hunched his shoulders, turning his back on Shiro, chewing the inside of his cheek.   
“He… Threatened all of you.” Keith’s voice was small, scared. “He said that if I didn’t join up, he’d bring y’all in, and do to you what he’d done to me… He said I would get the honor of killing y’all myself. He promised that I would be the downfall of the Paladins.” His Texan accent slipped through, like it always did when he was scared. Shiro’s heart plummeted right to his feet.   
“That’s not going to happen.” Shiro didn’t know what part he was addressing, maybe all of it. He just knew he was mad, and would really like someone to take that anger out on right about now. Unfortunately, they didn’t know where Zarkon was, and they needed to regroup anyways.   
“You can’t guarantee that.” Keith hissed, his accent twisting the words.   
“No, you’re right, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to keep it from happening.” Shiro stepped closer to Keith, touching his wrist gently. When the younger Paladin didn’t flinch away, Shiro put a hand on his shoulder, turning the Galra to look at him. “All of us will, you’re our family, and none of us will let them get you, and they sure as hell won’t get us, not while we have you looking out for us.” Keith’s shoulders slumped and he let his head fall forward, resting against Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro put his hand on the back of Keith’s head, cupping his skull. It was a familiar gesture for them, born out of years of trouble together. Tension eased out of Keith’s frame, and he pulled away, trying for a small, sad smile.   
“Can we keep this between us, for as long as possible, anyway?” It took a lot for Keith to request it, and Shiro could tell.   
“Ya, of course, buddy.” He flicked the end of Keith’s ear playfully, smiling brightly. “But for now, we should probably get Lance back in here, don’t you think?” Keith’s ear twitched and he puffed out his cheeks.   
“Assuming he didn’t fall out of the lion. This is Lance we’re talking about.” It took Shiro a long moment to realize Keith was joking around. He grinned and crossed to the door, sweeping his hands in a grand gesture to show he wanted Keith to go first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I don't really know what this chapter is? I was writing when I was dealing with all sorts of emotions and shit, and I'm super late cause my job makes me so fucking tired I'm just. I dunno. Next chapter will be more coherent and actually kinda decent probably.   
> Seriously though, every time I get a kudo or a comment on here, I get so excited, you guys are great and it makes me so happy. I'm glad people are enjoying my writing and I hope you keep giving me feedback. <3


	22. Chapter 22

Allura was pissed by the time the Black Lion finally made its way back to the castle. Shiro had turned off his com link to the other lions and the princess, giving him some alone time to talk to Keith, and he’d forgotten to turn it back on. Kind of. Mostly he’d kept it off so that Keith and Lance could talk, without fear of the others listening. After all, Lance had been the one there with Keith when the lizard thing showed up.   
Keith had opened up a lot more than Lance had figured he would. Something had shifted in their dynamic, and Keith clearly felt insanely comfortable with Lance. He tried to keep himself from feeling too proud. Even Shiro seemed to notice the shift in their dynamic, and he stayed out of it.   
By the time they got back to the castle, Keith was perfectly at ease, looking about ready to fall asleep in his chair, and Lance was humming with excitement. Of course, Allura ruined that ease the moment they disembarked from the Lion. Shiro paced a few steps ahead, and Lance kept pace with Keith’s limp. His tech leg was acting up- or rather the place where the tech met his purple skin was aching- and he was slow in the going, but he appreciated Lance sticking with him.   
“Where have you been?!” Allura stormed to Shiro, getting nose to nose with the Black Paladin. Keith shrunk backwards, and Lance moved slightly in front of his friend. Shiro blinked at the princess, arching an eyebrow.   
“We needed to talk, as I told you.”   
“You shut off from us, I sent Pidge out to find you! We didn’t know if you got ambushed or what!” Allura was fuming, and Lance could feel Keith’s ease being burnt up by his ever-present temper.   
“Then call her back, we’re fine. Keith just needed to talk to someone, and it was better out there.” Lance frowned at Shiro’s back. He basically just threw Keith under a bus, but Keith didn’t even flinch. Apparently the talk had done a lot. Allura fixed her flaming gaze of the half-Galra, sneering.   
“Oh, he needed to talk, did he?” Keith hissed, and Lance was sure he would have been lashing his tail, if it weren’t still tucked neatly away in his armor.   
“Ya, I did.” Keith’s voice was low, the anger unmistakable. It sounded like the old Keith. “And now we’re back, and safe and sound, and you need to stop being a brat.” Allura flinched, her anger momentarily dissipating with the shock of being called a brat. Shiro bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Lance mentally cheered Keith on.   
“And you need to stop being a Galra.”   
“Are you trying to say you can’t stop being a brat because it’s just who you are, cause if so, I agree with you. You’re a royal brat.” Keith snapped, his ears flattening against his skull. Allura gaped at him, and Lance coughed to hide a laugh. She turned her glare on Lance for a moment before turning and stalking away. She shoved past Coran- who was watching from the doorway- and went to go call Pidge back to the castle. Coran blinked a few times, looking between the Paladins, before cracking a grin and shooting Keith a thumbs-up. Keith looked baffled, but tried for a smile nonetheless. Allura’s voice shrieked down the hall and Coran jumped, grinning nervously before darting off to his princess. The door whizzed shut behind him, and Lance burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. Keith still looked rather baffled, and Shiro snorted, rolling his eyes at the door.   
“Welcome back, Keith.” Lance wheezed, bent over at the waist trying to catch his breath. Keith blinked his strange yellow eyes at Lance, one ear twitching awkwardly, the other standing straight upright.   
“I don’t get what’s so funny…” Keith muttered, shifting his weight awkwardly. Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder, smiling brightly at his long-time friend.   
“You told Allura off, it’s a good thing.” Keith frowned at the older teen, clearly not agreeing with Shiro.   
“Did you see her face?!” Lance hooted, letting himself fall backwards onto his butt. Keith snorted, covering his mouth with his hand. He wasn’t so much amused by his words to Allura, but rather Lance’s reaction. It was… Cute. It was a good thing Keith was purple, otherwise they’d all be able to see how flushed he was. Shiro, of course, could see it though, he was close enough. He smiled knowingly, rolling his eyes and pushing the tuft of white hair out of his face.   
“I’m sure Allura means well, she’s just stressed. She’ll calm down, let’s just give her some space.”   
“I’m more than for that plan.” Keith said bitterly, shrugging Shiro’s hand off his shoulder. “I’m going to go train.” Lance sobered up really quick, concern filling his blue eyes.   
“Keith, come on pal, don’t be like that!” Keith flicked his gaze to Lance as the Cuban stood, dusting off his butt. “Let’s go get some grub and throw a party, we kept off the Galra again, and we’re getting better at working together!” Lance reached out and gently flicked one of Keith’s ears, smiling gently. Keith tried not to return the smile, but he couldn’t help it. Lance’s happiness was infectious, at least to Keith. Shiro nodded approvingly, folding his arms over his chest.   
“Good idea, Lance. Let’s see if Hunk wants to spend some time in the kitchen while Pidge comes back.” Keith didn’t have a choice, and he puffed his cheeks out. Lance nearly swooned.   
“Fine, then I’m going to train.” Keith made it sound like a prison term, but Lance saw the spark in those unnerving yellow eyes, and he knew this was what Keith needed, what he wanted, but would never vocalize. Lance threw an arm over Keith’s shoulder, grinning broadly.   
“Buddy, you’re not going to want to train, after one of my super special, amazing parties!!” Shiro rolled his eyes behind Lance’s back, as the Blue Paladin started marching Keith towards the door.   
“Then maybe I shouldn’t go.” Keith replied, surprising Lance with the joking tone. Lance felt his heart get stabbed. This was so not fair, to be so close, yet not want to get stabbed by Keith’s nice little knife. Why was his life like this?!   
“How dare you!” Lance cried, pulling away in fake horror, looking aghast. “We must all be there, or it won’t be a party, just an awkward gathering of the most good-looking individuals in the universe! We need a cat-man there to pull it all together!” Keith snorted so hard Lance wondered if it actually hurt him.   
“That would help, if the cat-man were actually attractive.”   
“Oh nonsense, you’re definitely the most attractive cat-man I know.” Shit, he hadn’t actually meant to say that… Wait, was Keith blushing?! Maybe Lance hadn’t fucked up. Score!   
“You say that like you know a lot of cat-men.”   
“Well, you never know, I might~” Lance winked, shooting Keith some finger guns.   
“Unless you had a wild life on Earth, I would know.” Keith rolled his eyes, his fangs catching the light as he tried not to smile.   
“What, are you saying I was boring on Earth!?” Lance feigned offense, putting a hand on his throat and pouting his lip out.   
“Yep.” Keith replied simply, flashing Lance a grin and then continuing towards the lounge, where Hunk was most likely chilling. Lance watched Keith for a moment, enjoying the way the other Paladin strode through the room. Shiro knocked Lance gently on the shoulder as he passed by, smiling knowingly. Lance flushed, chewing on his lip as he trotted after the Paladins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late again lmfao I'm sorry my friends~


	23. Chapter 23

Keith went to the “party” and even managed to enjoy himself. Pidge hadn’t cared about going out in search of the Black Lion, in fact she was more than happy that Keith had finally talked to someone. That made Keith feel just a tiny bit guilty. These were supposed to be his friends, and they were worried about him, and yet he was just secluding himself away and refusing to let them help, which worried them more. He made a silent vow to trust his friends more.   
And then there was Lance, like a never-ending headache. The longer Keith spent with Lance, the more he thought maybe headaches weren’t so bad… This one was pretty cute, after all. Not that Keith would ever tell anyone that. Plus, Lance kept flirting with him, which just made Keith all the more determined to never let anyone know that he actually liked the other Paladin. None of them would ever let him live that down. So, Lance would stay his secret for a while longer.   
The party ended when Pidge quite literally fell asleep standing up, falling on top of Hunk. Shiro gave her a piggyback ride back to her room while the other three cleaned the room.   
“Why can’t we just throw parties all the time?” Hunk whined, wiping down a food stain off the wall. They may or may not have had a bit of a food fight.   
“Well, we can.” Keith didn’t look up from his job- scrubbing the spilled drinks out of the carpet.  
“We can?” Lance stopped to stare at Keith, who felt his gaze and looked up at him, arching an eyebrow. Lance got back to work.   
“Sure, why not? We have all the supplies, and it was actually sort of fun.” Now it was Hunk’s turn to stop in disbelief.   
“Wait, did Keith just admit something was fun?! Did someone get that on video!?”   
“Oh, ha-ha.” Keith muttered, rolling his eyes as he continued his scrubbing. Hunk wasn’t being unkind, and Keith knew it. “I’m not saying it again, so you’ll just have to let that memory keep you going.” Lance snorted, finishing wiping down the tables.   
“It’ll keep me alive next time we face the Galra, thank you Keith.” Keith snorted, his tail tip twitching in amusement. Lance beamed, looking around the room. “But you’re right, we should throw parties more often. Let’s do it after every mission, to give us something to look forward to!” Hunk cheered in agreement, throwing his dirty rag in the dirty-rag-basket. Keith pushed himself up, tossing his rag in the basket as well and appraising the spot he’d been scrubbing. Lance didn’t even know where the spot was, Keith had gotten it so clean.   
“Count me in.” Keith nodded, meeting Lance’s gaze. He smiled, a small, tentative thing, and Lance grinned even wider, clapping his hands together.   
“Alright, it’s a plan! Now, let’s all get to bed before the Princess comes rushing in here breathing fire for being up so late!” He stretched his arms over his head, suppressing a yawn. Keith barely kept from rolling his eyes, grabbing his jacket off his chair.   
“We have drills in the morning, remember. Pidge, Shiro, and I are going to try to work some hand-to-hand drills as well, before we get the Lions out. If either of you want to join, the more the merrier.” Keith avoided looking at Lance. He hoped Lance would join. He figured he wouldn’t join.   
“Getting up earlier? No thanks, I like sleep.” Hunk said, yawning widely and stretching his arms out.   
“I think I’m with Hunk on this one, sleep is better.” Lance nodded, like that settled it. “You three have fun, we’re going to be sleeping till it’s Lion time.” Keith tried not to feel that upset about it, and he hoped it didn’t show on his face.   
“You’re going to regret that when a Galra puts you right on your butt in close combat.”   
“You’re the only Galra who can put me on my butt, so I think that’s okay with me.” Lance said without thinking. It took only a moment for his words to catch up to him, and the Blue Paladin flushed. Keith flushed a deeper shade of purple, putting his hand over his mouth. “No, wait, that’s- I didn’t mean it like that- Ahhhhhhhhh!” Lance worried he’d overstepped his flirty behavior, but Keith was… Actually laughing. Suddenly waking up early sounded like a wonderful idea to Lance.   
“Okay, okay, fine, you’re excused.” Lance hid his face in his hands. “But the invitation is there if either of you want to come.” It was as much of a farewell as Keith ever gave, punctuated by a huge, very cat-like yawn, before he turned and strode away. Lance stared helplessly after the Red Paladin, and Hunk smirked at him.   
“Oh shut up.” Lance muttered, feeling very embarrassed.   
“I didn’t say anything!” Hunk protested, following Lance as he started towards their rooms. It probably would have been weird, if Hunk weren’t right across the hall from Lance.   
“You were thinking it!” Hunk pouted out his lower lip, and Lance rolled his eyes. “So, do you think you’re going to try to go to the close combat work tomorrow?”   
“… If Pidge is, ya, I probably will. Neither of us are very good at fighting, so I should probably try to get better.” Lance hummed at Hunk’s words. It wasn’t that much of a secret that Hunk was sweet on Pidge, but Pidge either didn’t notice or didn’t care (probably both), so Lance wasn’t going to say anything.   
“I wish they would do it later in the day… I really don’t like getting up early, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had a good match against Shiro… Or Keith for that matter.” Hunk cast him a knowing look. Was he that obvious?! Of course he was. Lance was a master of a lot of things- subtlety was not one of those things though.   
“Then I’ll see you bright and early to get our butts whooped by our better fighters.” Hunk said cheerfully as the reached their rooms. Lance grinned, bidding the other a good night before slipping into his room to start his hourly ritual of face cleaning, teeth brushing, and applying the proper face mask and salves to his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, well, I'm uploading this while sitting in Dulles International Airport and I sincerely hope nobody can see my screen cause that would be awkward 


	24. Chapter 24

Lance walked into the training room right in time for Shiro to go flying by the door. He froze. Keith barked an order, and Shiro rushed back. He unfroze. Lance took stock of the hall, envying the easy way Shiro and Keith grappled, familiar and comfortable. He had to keep from laughing at the lost looks cast towards the other Paladins by Pidge and Hunk. Clearly, Keith and Shiro were trying to do a demo, but the other two weren’t very skilled in this area. Lance slid along the wall to stand by Pidge.  
“They’re not wasting any time, are they?” Lance watched them carefully, picking up every subtle weight change.  
“They tried, but Shiro called Keith out for being tense, and told him to let loose. And this is the result of that. You’re almost 20 minutes late.” Pidge didn’t take her eyes off the two older boys sparring. She couldn’t fight worth a damn, but she loved watching them at it, especially Keith. It gave her ideas for robots. Of course it did, it’s Pidge.  
“Ya, ya, I’m late, but your skin doesn’t become this flawless and perfect by rushing in the mornings.” Pidge snorted, pointing to Keith’s tail. It lashed angrily around his ankles.  
“Shiro is trying to get Keith’s tail out of play. It’s making him more agile, and it’s why Shiro’s getting his butt kicked. Keith is pulling both a defense of his tail, and an offense to get Shiro down for longer than 5 seconds.” Pidge explained, watching as the two circled each other. Hunk made a small noise.  
“I’m pretty sure they’re going to pass out before they actually stop… And even then, they might still keep going.” Hunk frowned, and Lance was reminded of a documentary he’d watched of a mother wolf watching her pups play fight. He shook the image out of his mind and watched Shiro and Keith. Shiro almost snagged Keith’s tail, but he earned a swift right hook to the ribs for his trouble. He rolled away, launching back to his feet.  
“What ever happened to pulling punches?” Lance called, hands on his hips. That had looked hard, and he wasn’t eager to see his team leader with broken ribs. Both the sparrers startled. Neither expected Lance to show, but Keith was clearly more surprised by his appearance. Shiro saw, and took complete advantage, he launched in and maneuvered around the Galra, grabbing his tail and sweeping his legs out from under him. Keith fell, rather ungracefully, trying to roll away from Shiro, who instantly pinned him down.  
“That was unfair!” Keith complained, wiggling under Shiro’s bulk.  
“No, it wasn’t, you’re the one who got distracted.” Hunk shot Lance an amused look. Pidge tried to keep from laughing, and Lance looked awkward, shifting his weight. Keith couldn’t argue that one though, so he huffed in annoyance and went still. Shiro stood, offering his hand to Keith. The Red Paladin took it, leveraging to his feet. They knocked shoulders, and Keith almost smiled. Shiro did smile.  
“Learn anything from that?” Shiro asked, putting his hands on his hips. Lance had a mental image of the older teen as a teacher.  
“Ya, you and Keith are brutal.” Hunk said, eyeing Shiro’s ribs. Keith laughed, trying to cover it with a cough.  
“We’ve been partners a long time, we know what we can handle.” Something inside Lance pinged when Shiro announced he and Keith as partners.  
“So how do you spar with anyone else?” Lance blurted, wanting to shrink away at that moment. Keith blinked at him, shrugging.  
“We just take it slow, feel the waters, and make it clear what works for each other.”  
“Oh.” Lance felt stupid, and his face burned. Keith’s gaze lingered on him a moment, puzzled, before switching to Pidge.  
“So, would you be able to spar with Hunk and I?” Pidge asked, looking between Keith and Shiro.  
“I don’t see why not, assuming you two want to spar with us. One on one, of course.” Lance’s heart dropped. He was smart enough to know that one on one with Keith, Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge left him out on his own.  
“Uhhhhh, I just want to do one easy round…” Hunk piped up, looking nervously at Shiro and Keith. Pidge raised an eyebrow.  
“Alright, that works.” Keith shrugged, looking loose and easy. Fighting was his happy place. Lance bit his lip.  
“Then after Hunk, maybe I can have a go?” Keith blinked at him.  
“Who do you want to spar with?” You.  
“I don’t care. It’s been a while so I need a tune up.” Keith looked uncertain, glancing at Shiro for help. Shiro’s eyes glittered, and he folded his arms over his chest.  
“I’ll spar with Pidge, you can go a round with Hunk, and then help Lance.” Lance noticed the gleam in their leader’s eye. This wasn’t going to end well.  
“Alright, fine.” Keith shrugged, but his ears twitched nervously, and his tail swept back and forth. Pidge and Shiro trudged to the other half of the area, discussing some of how Keith and Shiro fought. Keith looked between Hunk and Lance. Hunk didn’t look too keen on this suddenly. Lance felt bad for him. “Okay, so an easy round, then Hunk?” Hunk blinked at him before shrugging.  
“I guess. Just don’t break me.” Keith’s lips twitched, and he started backing up, watching Hunk.  
“Don’t break me and I won’t break you. Now come on, give it your best.” Hunk drew in a breath and launched at the Galra Paladin, swinging wide. Keith easily dodged the shock, countering and knocking Hunk off course. Hunk skid to a stop and spun, fists flying. He managed to, in his wild punching, backfist Keith across the head, sending him stumbling away. A hiss escaped Keith, and he grabbed his head, pressing his fist against his ear.  
“Oh my gosh I am so sorry Keith!” Hunk started, but Keith swept Hunk’s feet from out of him, and the bigger guy plodded on his butt, looking stunned. Keith still held his hand over his ear, but he didn’t look upset.  
“That was a good hit, but don’t let your guard down that easily.” Hunk just blinked up at him.  
“Ya, on second thought, if it ever comes down to it, I think I’ll just let you guys handle hand-to-hand…” Keith offered Hunk his hand, and Hunk eyed it for a second before grasping it. The long claws brushed against Hunk’s wrist, and the fur on Keith’s palm tickled his own palm.  
“I’m not sure that’s such a great plan, but if you want to stop that’s fine.” Keith looked nervous, his ears back and his tail twitching irregularly. Hunk bit the inside of his cheek.  
“I’ll let Lance go first, and I’ll watch.” Hunk decided. Lance jumped when his name was mentioned. Keith turned that eerie yellow gaze on him.  
“Is that fine?”  
“Huh? Oh, ya, that’s totally fine. I’m ready when you are!” Hunk arched an eyebrow, amused. Keith didn’t look convinced.  
“Did you stretch?”  
“Did I what now?” Keith sighed, running a hand over the fuzz growing back on his head.  
“Lance, you’re going to pull something if you don’t stretch. So, stretch.” Lance frowned.  
“Only if you help me.” He taunted, enjoying the flush that raced up Keith’s neck and cheeks.  
“Fine, then you can pull something for all I care.” Keith barked, turning away. Lance was sorely tempted to grab and pull that tail. That would surely be pulling something. Hunk caught his eye and arched an eyebrow. Lance sighed and got to stretching.  
Keith watched Pidge and Shiro spar while Lance stretched. Despite the size difference, they weren’t horribly unmatched. Pidge used her size for her advantage, ducking under Shiro’s longer ranged attacks and forcing him back. She was doing remarkably well, and Keith admired her for it.  
“Annnnnndddddddd…. Done!” Lance hopped up, shaking his arms out. Keith sighed, turning back to the Blue Paladin.  
“Ready, then?”  
“Ready whenever you are!” Lance chirped, bouncing on his toes.  
Keith moved before Lance had even finished a bounce. He swept the other’s legs out from under him, sending Lance crashing to the floor. Lance rolled away as Keith buried his fist in the floor- inches from where Lance’s face had been seconds before.  
Lance spun on the floor, boosting himself to his feet and awarding him a few seconds as Keith had to move back to avoid his own feet being swept away.  
“I thought you were taking it easy!” Lance panted, blocking a roundhouse kick from Keith.  
“This is easy!” He replied, keeping up a steady stream of attacks.  
“Bah!” Lance gripped, blocking as fast as he could, and rolling with the hits he couldn’t block. Keith was intense, but he wasn’t hitting hard. Lance thanked whoever had taught him to spar for teaching Keith how to hold back. Otherwise Lance would be broken by now.

They sparred for over an hour before Shiro finally stepped in. Hunk had managed to fall asleep against the wall, since he’d never gotten his chance to spar. 

“Don’t you guys know what a breather is?” Pidge panted, having just finished her 6th round against Shiro. Keith just stared blankly at her, his head tilted to the side, one ear perked and the other dropping to the side. If it were anyone but Keith, Pidge probably would have pet them. But, it was Keith, and she valued both her hands. Even if Keith was more lenient with her, there were still hard limits. 

“We were just finishing up.” Keith said, his tail twitching nervously along the ground. Shiro eyed it and grunted. 

“You two weren’t going to stop till one of you passed out from exhaustion.” He stated, and Keith looked away. Lance shrugged. 

“We were having a good spar. That’s not a crime. Either of us could have called it at any time, and we both knew that.” Shiro blinked at him, conceding to that point. 

“Alright… Well, let’s go get breakfast.” Even Keith agreed, padding down the hall, flanked by Pidge and Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi yes I'm actually still alive and it's been like at least 5 months I am so sorry. I lost muse for a while, and now I'm back in college, and I'm writing essays for class so I started writing this again. It's great it's fine I'm totally not dying. Lmao. Okay but seriously: what I have written in this story right now is 57 pages worth, over 30,000 words. This is like a small novel my dudes. A. Small. Novel. And it's a Klance fic. I could have used this muse and time to write an actual book, but noooopppeeee I'm writing these losers. Lmfao   
> ON ANOTHER NOTE: "did you stretch?" "did I what now?" is my favorite piece of dialogue from this chunk


	25. Chapter 25

The next Galra attack came around 2 in the morning. Everyone, save Keith, was asleep when the first shot struck the ship. Keith was in the training hall. The rocking of the ship threw him across the hall, causing him to smack his head. As he was getting up, Shiro burst in, panicked.   
“Keith, are you okay?” He helped the red paladin to his feet, arching an eyebrow at the bump now forming in front of Keith’s ear.   
“Fine. What’s going on?” He had to shout to be heard as the attack alarms started blaring. Shiro frowned, shrugging his shoulders and watching the door. Pidge was the next in, struggling into her arm plates from her armor as she crashed through the door.   
“Guys! Where’s Allura? Nobody can find her!” Keith’s ears twitched, his tail twining around his legs in anxiety.   
“Maybe she was down in the power room.” Keith offered. Both Shiro and Pidge blinked at him. “I hear her sometimes, going down there. I don’t know why. I don’t ask.” He wouldn’t meet their eyes. He only heard her because he himself was up. Shiro narrowed his eyes for a second, but instead made a mental note to ream the other out later.   
“Okay, well, go find her. I’m going to find Hunk and Lance. We’ll get our lions, and you join us when you’ve got Allura.” Pidge nodded agreement with Shiro’s words and darted away. Shiro held Keith’s gaze for a long moment before following after. Keith growled under his breath and tore off through the castle, intent to find the princess before the ship was blown to kingdom come.   
Another hit to the castle defense sent Keith flying down the hall. This was bad. Why wasn’t Allura up yet? He propelled himself into the power room, and tripped over Allura’s prone body.   
“Fuck.” Keith snarled, kneeling down by her. She had a pulse. Probably just got knocked out when the first attack rocked the castle. Keith knelt over her, thinking. She groaned, and he stared down at her, unsure of what to do. Until she woke up and promptly attacked him.   
“Galra!” Allura screeched, pulling a knife from her belt. When had she started carrying that? Keith didn’t know. It was all he could do to keep himself from getting sliced to bits.   
“Allura! No, come on! It’s me! Keith!” The knife sunk into his leg, right over the Galra tech prosthetic and he crumpled, pulling the hilt from her grip. Allura watched him crumple, her mind waking up completely.   
“Keith? Oh. I’m… I’m sorry.” She muttered, her hands over her mouth.   
“We’re under attack. We need you on the bridge. Now.” Keith snapped, gingerly taking hold of the dagger embedded in his thigh. This was not going to be fun. Without waiting to think, Keith yanked the blade out of his skin, cussing as it tore out. As if that leg didn’t have enough problems, now this was a thing. Allura stood and stared at him for a long while more before turning and bolting to the control room. Keith hissed as he stood. Shiro was going to be pissed when he found out. If he found out. Keith could hide being stabbed. He’d done it before. It wasn’t that hard.   
The going was slow and painful, but Keith finally made it to his lion. The moment his intercom turned on, though, Lance’s screech filled the cockpit.   
“-EEEEEEIITTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”   
“Lance, calm down!” Hunk tried to get in a word, but was basically drowned out by Lance’s screaming.   
“WHAT DO YOU WANT!” Keith responded in kind, deafening the rest of the Paladins.   
“WHERE WERE YOU?! Allura got to the control room like 10 minutes ago!!”   
“It was three. And Keith had to get his armor.” Shiro argued. Keith glanced down at his lack of armor and grimaced.  
“Well I’m here now, so give me the status.” Red shot out of the castle, twisting and looping through the wreckage of already destroyed fighters.   
“That big ship keeps shooting the castle. None of us can get near, they’re too fast and they chase us away.” Pidge sounded the calmest of all of them. She was calculating, of course.   
“Is that so?” Excitement trilled through Keith as he watched Hunk dip around a ship before slamming up through it. Before anyone could respond, he pushed his Lion into high gear, shooting towards the large Galra ship. He wove through wreckage and around smaller fighter crafts. Thankfully, he had his Bayard, and he shoved it into the slot, a sword appearing in Red’s mouth.   
The moment he got close, he felt the wrongness of the moment. Someone on that ship was waiting for this. But his team was counting on him, and Keith never was one to back down from a challenge. He thrust Red forward harder, the blade in the lion’s mouth glinting wickedly. The sense of paralyzing fear stilled Keith’s hand, but Red continued on her path, the blade sinking into the side of the ship.   
“Lance. Help.” Keith’s voice was strangled, and he wasn’t sure why he called Lance, or why he thought he needed help, but that fear still gripped him and he couldn’t think. The blade bit through the ship, and Red rocketed out the other side. Keith should have been relieved, instead his dread grew as his lion spun and watched the ship fall apart.   
And that’s when he saw him. Dr. Z. The alien who kept him awake night after night. Keith’s blood ran cold and he couldn’t hear anyone. Even when the Blue lion knocked into him. Keith was frozen. And then, slowly, the lizard man raised one cruel hand, and smiled. The action made Keith’s heart falter.   
The Blue lion rammed into him again, knocking Keith’s line of sight away from the horrible sight. But whatever damage the doctor meant to do, had already been done. Keith couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t hear anyone. He couldn’t move. Black spots swam around the cockpit before his eyes.   
If only that was the worst of it. As Lance’s voice finally broke through, the pain begun. His leg was throbbing, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t just because of the stab wound. The pain begun bone deep, at the sever of his bone and the start of the Galra tech.   
“Hey, Keith, what’s going on?!” Lance was trying to keep from shouting their ears off, but it was hard. Keith had just. Stopped replying. And Lance was worried.   
“… Fine…” His voice cracked, and he struggled to breath. He could practically feel Lance struggling to find a good way to say what he wanted to.   
“The ship is down. We need to form Voltron and take care of the rest of these.” Shirt barked.  
“It’d be easier if we stay split and take them out on our own.” Lance replied, his lion bumping gently against Keith’s. Shiro made a small noise through the intercom while Pidge whooped in joy as she destroyed a small squadron. “C’mon Shiro, we can do this.” Lance continued. He didn’t know why, but he knew Keith couldn’t handle forming Voltron right then.   
“Alright, fine. Why don’t you two go back? I think we three can handle it.” Shiro was granting them more than just a break.   
“Sounds good! We’ll be by our intercoms, if you need us.” Lance chirped, using Blue to shoved Red towards the castle. Keith was silent, but Red flew steadily into her landing strip. Blue followed, even though the areas weren’t meant for two lions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I just like hurting Keith lmfao.


End file.
